Unending love for the Royal enfield Bullet

Fast paced crime may have made the delhi police give up its thump in the city but its still alive in the capital's vast outback.

The zippy Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle, inducted in the force towards the end of 2006, has become the choice of young Delhi Police recruits to chase criminals in the by lanes of Delhi.

"Compared to the Enfield, the Pulsar is more convenient to ride and easier to maintain.

Hence, its popularity among young Delhi Police recruits in the city," a senior police officer told Hindustan Times.

However, senior officers feel that the endurance, engine capacity and speed of the Royal Enfield Bullet make it a tactical blessing in the outer district.

"When I joined the force, I chose the Bullet and not the Rajdoot that I was offered ini- tially," said ACP Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi Police.

According to figures released by the Delhi Police, 250 Royal Enfield motorcycles and 379 Pulsars were purchased by the law enforcement agency in 2008. In 2009 however, only two Royal Enfields were purchased even as the number of Pulsars acquired went up to 386.

The figures would give one the impression that the Enfield is destined for ignominy -- much like its predecessors such as the Rajdoot and Hero Honda's lightweight Passion motorcycle.

But things are quite different in the road-less, rural expanse that characterizes the fringes of the Capital.

"The Pulsar may be fast, but it's not powerful enough to negotiate the long distances that police patrolling entails in areas like Shahbad Dairy and Bawana," the officer said.

At present, the Delhi Police have deployed a total of 149 motorcycles in the outer dis- trict for patrolling. More than 85% of them (127) are Royal Enfield Bullets.

"We made it a point to put more emphasis on patrolling crime prone areas. As a result, the total number of cases registered this year has gone down by 226," the officer said.

He said that the requirements of policing a semi-rural environment depended on the articulation of authority.

"The Bullet exudes a sense of power. In the rural belt -- lawlessness mostly arises due to multiplicity of authority and lack of regard for the police as a law enforcement agency."