Mumbai police chief wields baton against 'spicy' ring tones

The circular said that the step was being taken to help the police force to conduct itself with dignity, the official said.

On Friday night, Patnaik had paid a surprise visit to the police station and was giving instructions to constables when their cell phones buzzed with the item numbers, he said.

Their mobiles were immediately seized and the two constables were summoned to Police Headquarters. As the two collected their mobile handsets, the CP issued a circular.

When contacted, Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar said, "He (Patnaik) wants to bring more and more discipline in the force. When such ring tones start ringing, it gives a wrong impression about the force. It was advised to either assign simple ring tones or set up some decent songs as ring tones.

Earlier in an unusual circular in March, Patnaik had warned his subordinates not to "interrupt" him in the middle of a conversation and if they do, it would invite adverse remarks in their Annual Confidential Report (ACR).