S R P jawans taking a break by drinking water and tea distributed by some local residents at Nirmal Nagar, Khar.

July 14: Under siege for having opened fire in haste that led to the death of 10 persons on Friday, and now patrolling the streets to keep the calm, Mumbai's cops are living a nightmare. Several of them have not gone home for the last 72 hours.

``Jab ghar se nikalta hoon to meri aurat se kehke nikalta hoon ki meri rasta na dekho. Aaya to aaya, nahi to samjho mar gaya.'' The words of a policeman who has spent the last three days at a police post in Worli police station limits seems to echo the agony of the force in general, which has been at the receiving end of public ire for shooting down 10 people protesting against the desecration of Ambedkar's statue in the city.

For the last three days, Mumbai's police force has been under tremendous pressure to control the riots.

The police personnel at Worli police station have been on duty for three days now, and seem to have lost hope of getting any rest anywhere for the next day or two. They have been deprived, though not necessarily of purpose, of basic necessities like food and shelter simply because they are on duty and the riots have not died down.

Last night saw the DBT Colony residents in action, throwing stones at one another from their buildings and not sparing any policeman who tried to stop them. ``Yeh log paththar ek dusre par phenkthe hain, we girthe hain hamare sir pe,'' jokes PSI S R Ghorpade. According to him, the targets are not any particular political party activists, but a case of `target practice'. Says he, the people aim at a window of a nearby building, and make sure that the stone hits it. But they aim with greater accuracy the head of police man.

They have not been able to make much headway in controlling the problem because they have been unable to enter the chawls that house the rioters. They claim the women in the buildings stop them from doing so. ``Aurat log jab rokte hain to hum kya kar sakte hain,'' says another policeman.

The men, who have been posted at various points, live in small cabins which have been been originally built to provide shelter from the summer heat and rains while on duty. They depend on hotels for food and spend nearly Rs 60 each day on eatables. On being asked whether the station provided them with any food, they say, ``Every station has nearly 200 men working in it. Is it possible to provide food for all of them, that too at such a short notice?'' Sleep is a rare commodity for them in such times. ``Raat mein kahan sone ko milta hain? Raat mein to tamashaa shuroo hota hain,'' said another policeman. Most of the men claimed that they sleep just three hours a day.

The average policeman does not seem to have much of an opinion about the riots. Referring to rioters, a cop's sardonic comment said it all. ``They are doing their duty. I am doing mine.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.