Residents living on the outskirts of Thimphu City such as in Chamgang, Hongtsho and Yoeselpang are calling for the Royal Bhutan Police to establish community police stations in their gewogs. They say crimes such as robbery, vandalism and brawls are on the rise in recent years with an increasing population. Local leaders from Dagala and Chang Gewogs raised the concern in the recently concluded Thimphu Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
Currently, when a crime occurs, residents of Chamgang in Dagala Gewog and Hongtsho and Yoeselpang of Chang Gewog have to contact either the police substation at Babesa or the police headquarters.
Without a police station, residents say miscreants frequent their areas and create problems.
“The number of robberies in shops and houses is increasing every year. Since the police station is located far from our village, it is hard to catch thieves immediately. It would be convenient if we have a police station in the gewog,” said Dorji Tshering, a resident.
“People from the town come and loiter here at night after drinking. These people shout and disturb our sleep. We had cases of car theft and vandalism,” said Wangchuk, another resident.
“Firstly, we have a lot of theft cases. Secondly, our students are not safe due to the increasing number of strangers in the neighbourhood. People are scared to do mischievous things in town because of the police presence there, so they come here and make a lot of fuss,” said Kinley Wangmo, a resident.
The Dagala Mangmi and the Chang Gup raised the issue during the Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
They said that there is an urgent need to establish community police stations in their gewogs.
The representative from the Royal Bhutan Police at the meeting said that the police will study the population and crime rates of the areas as required in establishing a community police station.
BBS contacted the RBP headquarters in Thimphu about the plans but they were unavailable for comments.
However, Thimphu’s Dzongkhag Tshogdu chairperson said that the police are in the process of identifying a location in the two gewogs to set up community stations.
“If there is a police station in the chiwog, the number of crimes will reduce. Even seeing the police uniform would scare people,” said Kinga Wangmo, a resident.
“It’s been four years since we provided land to build a community police station in the village. It could not be built due to some problems. However, we are told that a community police station will be provided now and all of us in the village are looking forward to quickly establishing it,” said Minjur Wangmo, Chang Tshogpa.
Though police did not share information on the crime rates in the two gewogs, people say theft cases are rampant.
Local leaders said a few shops were robbed recently.
Until relevant stakeholders come up with quick interventions, residents will have to keep worrying about possible break-ins and robberies, or worst still, heinous crimes.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Kipchu
