<p>It may sound strange but Bihar Director-General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand has not used his licensed service revolver even once in his 36 years of service as an IPS officer.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 1977-batch officer, who led 22 encounters, never used his weapon even when he was Superintendent of Police (SP) of Naxal-infested districts like Aurangabad, West Champaran, Nalanda or Madhepura.<br /><br />“A team leader should guide his men in the use of arms during police encounters. It’s the leader’s strategy, and not weapon, that leads to success,” Abhayanand told Deccan Herald, when asked how one of the Bihar’s brightest IPS officers had never used his weapon in such a long span of service.<br /><br />Normally, IPS officers are issued either a 9 mm pistol or a .38 bore revolver when they join service after completing their training. But unlike former DGP of UP Prakash Singh who carried his weapon even when he was the top cop, Abhayanand never carried a revolver even when in full uniform.<br /><br />Rather, he is credited with saving the lives of five men during an encounter. “During one such encounter with gangsters (when he was SP), his aides wanted to eliminate the five persons who had given shelter to gangsters, but Abhayanand made them understand that it is no necessary to take the lives of innocent persons,” said a source close to the DGP. He was recalling an encounter Abhayanand led at Bikramganj in 1981 in which three dreaded criminals were killed but he personally never reached for his revolver.<br /><br />His subordinates, however, find it amusing. “I personally feel that an IPS officer should always carry weapons, whether he is on duty or not… whether he is in peaceful area or handling a mob. I find it strange that the DGP never used his gun,” said one of his junior colleagues, who cited the case of the DGP’s predecessor Neelmani, a 1975 batch IPS officer, who retired in 2011. “Neelmani always carried his .38 bore service revolver even when he was the top cop,” the officer averred.<br /><br />But Abhayanand, whose father Jagdanand had also served as the Bihar DGP, insists that “power does not always flow from the barrel of the gun. At times, it flows from the brain.”</p>
<p>It may sound strange but Bihar Director-General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand has not used his licensed service revolver even once in his 36 years of service as an IPS officer.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 1977-batch officer, who led 22 encounters, never used his weapon even when he was Superintendent of Police (SP) of Naxal-infested districts like Aurangabad, West Champaran, Nalanda or Madhepura.<br /><br />“A team leader should guide his men in the use of arms during police encounters. It’s the leader’s strategy, and not weapon, that leads to success,” Abhayanand told Deccan Herald, when asked how one of the Bihar’s brightest IPS officers had never used his weapon in such a long span of service.<br /><br />Normally, IPS officers are issued either a 9 mm pistol or a .38 bore revolver when they join service after completing their training. But unlike former DGP of UP Prakash Singh who carried his weapon even when he was the top cop, Abhayanand never carried a revolver even when in full uniform.<br /><br />Rather, he is credited with saving the lives of five men during an encounter. “During one such encounter with gangsters (when he was SP), his aides wanted to eliminate the five persons who had given shelter to gangsters, but Abhayanand made them understand that it is no necessary to take the lives of innocent persons,” said a source close to the DGP. He was recalling an encounter Abhayanand led at Bikramganj in 1981 in which three dreaded criminals were killed but he personally never reached for his revolver.<br /><br />His subordinates, however, find it amusing. “I personally feel that an IPS officer should always carry weapons, whether he is on duty or not… whether he is in peaceful area or handling a mob. I find it strange that the DGP never used his gun,” said one of his junior colleagues, who cited the case of the DGP’s predecessor Neelmani, a 1975 batch IPS officer, who retired in 2011. “Neelmani always carried his .38 bore service revolver even when he was the top cop,” the officer averred.<br /><br />But Abhayanand, whose father Jagdanand had also served as the Bihar DGP, insists that “power does not always flow from the barrel of the gun. At times, it flows from the brain.”</p>
