Jaipur: Rajasthan Police is working on a plan to make people who climb water tanks, mobile towers and electricity structures to press for their demands pay for the police and emergency response mounted to bring them down.Under the proposed system, such protesters would face an FIR if they were found medically fit, while govt would calculate the cost of the operation and seek its recovery from them. The plan is being drafted by CID following directions from police headquarters.The move follows an assessment by PHQ that incidents of people climbing elevated structures to draw attention to their demands remain a recurring policing challenge. District reports indicate at least seven such incidents are being reported every month across Rajasthan.Officials said the protests commonly relate to land disputes, recruitment examinations and police cases. In some incidents, protesters have threatened suicide or carried inflammable material while remaining on the structure, forcing police to deploy fire and rescue teams and sometimes disrupting electricity or water supply.Under the proposed procedure, police would first ensure that the person is brought down safely. A medical examination would then be conducted. If doctors find the person to be mentally ill, police would not initiate action under the proposed mechanism. If the person is found medically fit, the local police station would register an FIR.The investigating officer would then collect details of govt resources used during the operation. Civil Defence, fire and emergency services, SDRF, public health engineering department and the electricity department would be asked to report the personnel and vehicles deployed, the duration of the operation and any disruption caused to public services.Police would separately calculate the cost of its own personnel, vehicles and other resources. The expenses from all departments would then be compiled into a single amount, which the district administration would seek to recover from the protester.If the person does not pay, the recovery could eventually be pursued through court proceedings, including attachment of property in the person’s name, according to the proposed framework.Police officials said existing provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) can be invoked against people whose actions endanger themselves, disrupt public services or create other offences. However, such provisions are not being consistently used in these cases.The proposed action plan is intended to create a specific procedure for dealing with such protests and make those staging them bear the consequences of the resources deployed to manage the situation.Officials said similar action has already been taken in some districts in individual cases, but the proposed plan would provide a uniform framework across the state.
