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| Sunday, 2 May 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Police legends: Making their presence felt As everyone knows, the Inspectorate is the Backbone of the police
Department. Over the years, there were many Police Inspectors who were
unique in their own way and they carved themselves a special We start with Inspector Joseph, affectionately known as "Buth" Joseph. He was a tall giant of a man, with a ferocious moustache, the corners of which were rolled with the thumb and forefinger by him, so that it pointed towards the sky, which gave an additional menacing look. He was the Officer-in-Charge of Nawalapitiya Police Station for quite some time and the criminals and hooch dealers in the area had a nightmare during his tenure of office. The fable is that many a criminal passed excreta and urine when they saw Inspector Joseph. Nevertheless, he was a soft spoken and a kind hearted man, though he had a tough exterior. There was a story going round during that era that the criminals in the area bribed the Police Station labourer to give them a signal whenever Inspector Joseph got into the jeep to leave the Police Station. After he left Nawalapitiya, his photograph was available for sale on the pavements of Nawalapitiya, Gampola and Kandy. Such was his popularity. He was famous for raiding Charlie who had constructed a pipeline to facilitate the movement of illicit liquor.
I asked him one day as to why he is making such a big din with obvious risk to life and limb. He guffawed and told me that he has never met with an accident on the motorcycle in all his life and that he was only making a noise to make the presence of the Police felt by reving the engine, but not speeding. |
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niche among
society in general and the Police Department in particular. In a series
commencing this week, retired police officer, Bandula Seneviratne sketches
a few of those characters whose contribution to the Police Department was
multifarious and enormous.
J. S. R. de Silva was a tall wiry man with an European complexion - a
sportsman of many disciplines. He was called "Gagarin" after the
Russian Astronaut Yuri Gagarin, though in appearance there was little
similarity. He was serving in Matara and the public there used to line up
and wait for him in the morning, afternoon and evening, along the main
road to see him tearing away with a tremendous roar on the Triumph Tiger
100 Motorcycle, with the maximum rev of the engine.
