Cop in the crossfire
S Sivendran
Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rtd) Merril Gunaratne
launched his second book ‘Cop in the Crossfire’ recently at the Mahaweli
Centre Auditorium.
The Chief Guest was Mano Chanmugam, a distinguished old boy of St
Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya and a Fellow of the Institution of
Nuclear Engineers of Great Britain, who is also a pianist par
excellence. In his address he was full of praise for the service
rendered by another Peterite, Merril Gunaratne during his Police career.
He also spoke of the difficulties a policeman has to endure in the
discharge of his duties due to political interference.
He recalled an incident when he was studying in England where the
Duke of Glocester arrived at the St Pancras station with his two corgis.
He was stopped from entering the station by the Police officer on duty
as the two corgis were not muzzled.
The Equerry who was with Duke asked the cop as to whether he knew to
whom he was speaking to and said that he was the Duke. But the policeman
stood his ground. The train was delayed by one and half hours till two
muscles were got down and the two Corgies muscled and the train left
with the Duke and his two Corgis.
On reaching the Balmoral Castle, the Duke telephoned the Police chief
at St Pancras and expressed his appreciation of the conduct of the
Police officer at the station and recommended that he be promoted. Mano
smilingly said that if this happened to a VIP in this country, the
Policeman would have been at great risk.
The Master of Ceremonies was Gaston de Rosayro, an Editor, Author and
Media Consultant. He paid a glowing tribute to former Senior Deputy
Inspector General of Police Sylvestor Joseph who was present among the
invitees as an honourable Police officer who kept away from political
influence and discharged his duties with dignity and decorum according
to what was laid down in the law books.
“I knew Merril Gunaratne from my days at St Peter’s College as a
young smart lad. Once, after I joined the Police as a Sub Inspector I
was at the Josephian-Peterite cricket big match at the Sara Stadium with
some friends in high spirits, he was then at the university and was
introduced to me by one of his colleagues at the university, who too was
an old Peterite and I told him that I knew him as a” little pup” at
school, which he still remembers. Later he joined the Police as a
Probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police and our feelings have
been always warm and cordial to-date.” As a senior Police officer he was
very methodical and planned all his activities meticulously to
perfection.
He was a true leader who led his team from the front sharing the
bouquets and brickbats with his juniors. For his organizational
expertise he was entrusted with several national tasks such as the visit
of Pope Paul 11, for which a police contingent of 20 Deputy Inspectors
General of Police, 160 Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents and
15,000 officers of and below the rank of Inspector were mobilized under
his command. I worked in the organizing committee as the secretary. He
being a perfectionist the entire operation was worked to precision.
At the conclusion of the Pope’s visit Bishop Malcolm Ranjith (now
Cardinal ), Chairman and National Organizer for the pilgrimage, in a
letter to the Inspector General of Police had stated that the Holy See
had informed him that the organization of the visit had ranked ‘one of
the best in the whole series of 64 pilgrimages undertaken by the
Pontiff’ Merril Gunaratne was responsible for planning and executing the
security arrangements for the Non Aligned Countries Conference which was
held in 1976 in Colombo under Cyril Herath who was chairman in charge of
security.
He was also in charge of security at elections for which a master
plan was drawn by him to prevent violence during elections which is
implemented to date as a blueprint.
The Police Hospital which had its origins like a rural hospital is
transformed into a modern hospital today thanks to the efforts taken by
Merril Gunaratne when he functioned as Senior DIG in charge of Police
Support Services. Today this hospital is a boon to all Police Officers
both serving and retired with indoor and outdoor treatment. He has made
several recommendations such as appointing a DIG in charge of the
hospital so that the standard of service could be further streamlined
for the benefit of the patients.
In the book he gives an in-depth into the agony and ecstasy he
experienced during his entire Police career which illustrates the trials
tribulations the Police have to undergo in their day to day life. But to
his credit he faced them with strong will power and tact. He had the
distinction of being called upon by several heads of state during times
of turmoil and unrest to restore normalcy in the country and he was able
to accomplish his task with distinction.
In his book he states that he is proud that he learnt his rudiments
of Police work from officers of the calibre of Senior Superintendent of
Police KDC Ekanayake, who was an absolutely honest officer who in his
later years became a Buddhist priest, DIG H G Boudewyn, DIG A C Lawrence
and DIG Cyril Herath and is ever grateful to them.
His book Cop in the crossfire is a very revealing and interesting
book, which brings nostalgic memories of the Police and is a must for
the Police officers who served during his period and also to the present
day policeman. |