The Bengaluru Police left no stone unturned in ensuring security on New Year’s Eve, but the Whitefield Police was faced with an unexpected problem.
Party-goers in Whitefield were not able to hail cabs as there was a hold up on the road connecting Bengaluru's Central Division to the Whitefield area, according to the police.
“The problem occurred because the cabs come from Bengaluru Central to Whitefield, but the concentration of people was very high in other areas, due to which there was a shortage of cabs in Whitefield. Many people were gathered on the roadside at Mahadevapura, HAL and Marathahalli desperately trying to book cabs and autos. So, we decided to drop these people one by one,” explained Chandragupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru (Central Division).
The police also considered other avenues like using school buses in the region to solve the problem, but with time ticking, police vehicles were pressed into service to drop stranded revellers home a little after 1 am.
“Out of 80 vehicles, around 25-30 vehicles were used to drop people. These vehicles made 2-3 trips each and they were instructed to prioritise women, children and senior citizens in case there were many people to be dropped,” added the DCP.
By 1:40 am, word had begun to spread online, with Whitefield DCP Abdul Ahad informing Twitterati that they were dropping people home in police vehicles.
As there's shortage of Cabs in Whitefield Mahadevpura area,we are dropping people home in police vehicles, preference to women Children and senior citizens @CPBlr @AddlCPEast @WFRising
— Abdul Ahad IPS (@dcpwhitefield) December 31, 2017
As the last metro was at 2 am, those stranded were running out of options to get home, which is when the Whitefield Police stepped in and began to drop people home.