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Wednesday, 30 November 2011

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Cop in the crossfire

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.

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