NEW DELHI: After Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed Delhi Police to prepare a detailed action plan for crime prevention and improving the perception and accessibility of police, the senior officers, including the police chief inspected the deployment of staff at vulnerable stretches across the city.
The exercise was conducted after midnight on Friday. For the ‘General Gasht’, as the exercise is named, the police said that maximum number of their staffers were mobilised.
All senior officers, including Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik, inspected the deployment and alertness of the personnel. Patnaik, along with Special Commissioner, Law and Order, inspected the vulnerable stretches, including those which had recently reported a crime; and assessed the possibility of enhancing police visibility to prevent recurrence of crime, the city police said in a statement.
It said that the officers identified the stretches which required rearrangement of deployment to plug security gaps. During the checking, around 6,000 police personnel were deployed on more than 600 pickets across the city, including integrated checking by local police, traffic and PCR. Around 16,000 vehicles were checked during the drill. Nearly 3,000 persons were bound down, while 185 persons were checked for legal action.
The ‘General Gasht’ is a regular and routine exercise in policing, where senior officers interact with field functionaries to check their alertness to have a better understanding and devise effective strategies for curbing crime.“It is also intended to boost the motivation and morale of night checking staff keeping in mind the fact that they perform tough duties in odd hours. The high visibility and intensity of checking also instil confidence in the minds of the people and act as a deterrent against anti-social elements lurking at night to commit any unlawful act,” police said.