Garden a haven for antisocials

kolkata: the botanical gardens of shibpur used to be a safe and romantic getaway for youngsters till even five years ago. now, except for unsuspecting tourists, the botanics barely attract kolkatans. satta dons, hooch sellers and hooligans reign over the area after dark. local residents allege that hooligans target young couples and have even occupied portions of land in the garden.according to shibpur police station officer-in-charge, swapan bagchi, criminals have even broken down parts of the boundary wall and created easy passage for themselves. earlier, most of the criminals used to sneak into the garden at night. but now, things have started becoming much worse. criminals are now threatening visitors in broad day light. “most of them are drunk. they misbehave with visitors and pass obscene comments at couples,� said aveek sarkar of burrabazar, who has stopped visiting the garden following a brawl with one of the goondas. though raids are conducted every fortnight and a lot of arrests have been made, they have not served as a deterrance. surprisingly, police records show that most of the criminals picked up during the raids belong to two major crime belts in the city, the tangra-tiljala-topsia belt and the kidderpore-metiabruz belt.however, the additional superintendent of police has been asked to form a joint team with domjur police station, as parts of the garden fall under the domjur ps area and the hooligans use the criminal hideouts of domjur during the raids. rajiv mishra, additional superintendent of police (town), said, “we are conducting raids almost every night and have formed a team from shibpur police station. the cops will keep a round-the-clock vigil in the area and pick up anybody creating a nuisance.� ‘if we get a specific written complaint from somebody regarding this, he will be definitely detained and questioned,� mishra added.