India: Top Hyderabad woman cop goes undercover — is harassed within minutes

Hyderabad’s newly-appointed police commissioner B. Sumathi wanted to understand a simple but unsettling question: how safe does a woman feel alone on the city’s streets after midnight?

What she experienced shocked even seasoned officers.

Standing alone in plain clothes at a bus stop in Dilsukhnagar shortly after midnight on May 2, the senior IPS officer was approached repeatedly by men within minutes. Some allegedly passed vulgar remarks, others tried to engage her, while several were reportedly drunk or under the influence of narcotics, according to police officials.

Nearby police teams monitoring the covert operation detained more than 40 men during the exercise, many of them teenagers and middle-aged men accused of harassing women standing or walking alone at night.

The undercover operation, carried out barely a week after Sumathi took charge as commissioner of the newly formed Malkajgiri police commissionerate, has sparked fresh debate over women’s safety in public spaces across Hyderabad.

A bold field test

Sumathi, a 2006-batch IPS officer and the first woman police commissioner in the Greater Hyderabad region, deliberately chose to move without uniformed officers around her.

Pretending to wait for a late-night bus, she stood alone at the busy Dilsukhnagar bus stop — an area packed with hostels, commercial establishments and late-night activity.

Officials said it took only a few minutes for groups of men to begin approaching her.

Some allegedly made lewd comments and advances, while others attempted to strike up conversations with suspicious intent. Police teams deployed discreetly nearby stepped in and rounded up suspects as the interactions unfolded.

The detainees were later counselled and released with warnings, officials said.

The operation was aimed at assessing ground realities and sending a strong message against harassment of women in public spaces during night hours.

Focus shifts to hostel areas

The exercise also exposed wider concerns about safety infrastructure in the area.

Police continued intensified night patrolling in Dilsukhnagar for the next three days using drones, local patrol teams and She Teams personnel.

Officials found that many of the nearly 600 private hostels in the locality lacked even basic security measures such as functioning CCTV cameras or proper recording systems.

Following the findings, Sumathi called for meetings with hostel owners, managers, resident welfare groups and local shopkeepers to discuss ways to curb harassment and monitor anti-social behaviour around hostel zones.

Police believe the concentration of hostels, late-night movement and inadequate surveillance has contributed to persistent complaints from women in the locality.

Maoist negotiator turned city police chief

Though the midnight operation drew widespread attention, this was not the first time Sumathi had carried out such a field exercise.

Officials recalled that during her early years as a DSP, she conducted a similar undercover assessment near Kazipet railway station.

Sumathi began her policing career as a Group-1 DSP in 2001 before joining the IPS. Over the years, she held several key assignments in intelligence and law enforcement.

Before becoming commissioner, she served as Inspector General in Telangana’s Special Intelligence Bureau, where she earned recognition for helping persuade hundreds of Maoists to surrender through dialogue-based negotiations.

Police sources credit her with playing a major role in the surrender of 591 Maoists over a two-year period, including senior Maoist leader Tippiri Tirupati alias Devuji earlier this year.

Now, her focus appears firmly fixed on another challenge closer to urban life: whether women in one of India’s fastest-growing cities can safely stand alone on a street after dark.

- with inputs from IANS