KOCHI: Born in Cholamala near Munnar to Karuppayya and Subbamal, who worked as tea leaf pluckers, K Sethu Raman overcame several hurdles to become an IPS officer. In 2004, he achieved the dream of entering civil services securing an all-India rank of 322. Currently, the inspector general of police, in his own words, is in “the hot seat”, as the Kochi city commissioner. He speaks to TNIE about drug menace, terrorism, women’s safety, cyber frauds, and policing plans
It’s been about five months since you’ve taken charge as the city police commissioner. How has it been?
Kochi is undoubtedly one of the most vibrant cities in Kerala. Being a diverse city, where people from all parts of the state come together, it is challenging. The city has undergone a dramatic change, especially when you take the last one-and-a-half decades. New infrastructure has emerged, including overbridges and the metro. Yet the control over the number of accident cases is something we should be taking note of. Overall, the city is improving.
While taking charge, one of your primary agendas was to curb the rising drug menace. The recent seizure of high-purity methamphetamine (crystal meth) worth Rs 15,000 crore off the Kochi coast has triggered discussions.
Narcotics is our biggest concern. Last year, we registered over 2,900 drug cases in Kochi alone. This month, we have registered 28 cases so far. However, 80 per cent of these involve cannabis, either in small or large quantities. This doesn’t deny the fact synthetic drugs are slowly penetrating society. The national average rate of drug usage is 2.5 per cent, while the rate in Kerala is 1.25 per cent. This is way less when compared with some northeastern states and Punjab, where the highly addictive heroine is rampant.
You mentioned that synthetic drugs are slowly making their presence felt. How do you plan to curb its rise?
While taking charge, one of the agendas I put forward was ‘No new child should use any form of drugs’. According to our findings, almost 90 per cent of youngsters (18-26 years) who use drugs claim they aren’t aware of its ill-effects. Despite the many awareness programmes being held, right from the school level, somehow the messages don’t seem to be getting delivered the right way.
So, we are going to look at the school level by activating a ‘School Protection Group’, a mandatory school samithi that comprises the principal, local convener, PTA, and staff members.
It’s important for the members of the samithi to be aware of the environment the students come from. Children from broken families, those who have a violent atmosphere in the household, and those who don’t get enough care and attention are more prone to drug use. The department has given guidelines to respective station house officers (SHOs). If we find any children or students addicted to drugs, action will be taken against the SHO of the respective area.
What’s the progress of project ‘Yodhav’?
Under this project, our special squad works to apprehend the drug peddlers. The response has been good so far. However, information through the Yodhav app is scarce.(YODHAVU- 9995966666)
Are synthetic drugs hard to trace?
Synthetic drugs like MDMA, ecstasy, and LSD, are often carried in small amounts, say 2g, and in several forms, making them hard to trace. Unlike alcohol, it is difficult to identify whether a person has consumed drugs or not. There are no detection kits; the only option is to take urine and blood tests. However, the police cannot forcefully take people just out of suspicion, especially students. It is unconstitutional to forcefully hold them and conduct tests.
Within 21 days of treatment, we can help people come out of drug addiction, but there aren’t enough beds in the deaddiction centres. On top of this, it is an expensive affair, and many can’t afford it. We are planning to make these centres accessible.
Is the police able to identify the source of the drugs after seizing them?
Yes, now we are able to identify the sources. There have been cases of identifying synthetic drugs being cooked at homes; recently we found such an incident in Bengaluru. Foreign inflows, too, are being identified. One of our probes led to a source in Africa. People shouldn’t get panicky when such foreign inflows are identified. This has always been there, but now we are able to identify them.
How has the progress been with shadow policing at film locations?
It has brought a difference in the movie sets, specifically. According to producers, one of the major differences is that actors are now coming on time, and they are concerned about their reputation. Actors are aware that they are under the radar. We have support from the members of the film sector. As a result, the practice of using drugs openly on film sets has reduced. We have warned the producers to not consider any actor who causes trouble on the sets.
When it comes to the seizure of drugs in small quantities, less than 1kg, the accused can easily get bail…
I think if the law becomes too stringent, there can be misuse, especially with someone who is allegedly convicted of drug usage. I can’t comment on the existing law. Whether it should be stringent or relaxed, it’s up to the lawmakers to decide.
Drug-related crimes have been on the rise…
It is not just solely the duty of the police department to curb the issue, the involvement of the social justice department, health, and youth is essential. In the case of Kochi, we don’t have much of a crisis, it’s just that the visibility of cases is high due to media coverage. The crime rate of the city is one of the lowest in the world.
Under the Shafeeq Committee Report, we were able to identify about 5,000 families in Ernakulam that are vulnerable to violence. This includes households where some member has an unstable mind, drug addicts, and children under foster parenting. The latter is more prone to sexual and physical violence, most likely within the family. We are getting details from the social justice department, and the Janamaithri police will keep a tab on such households.
Why does the cyber crime department find it difficult to nab scammers?
This is one of the challenges the department is finding difficult to crack. Almost 99 per cent of such fraud cases originate from states like Jharkhand, Haryana, etc. Most of the time the fraudsters use bank accounts and phone numbers obtained in the names of illiterate villagers. When we reach the spot, the account holder would be a totally different person, and we just have to halt the operation. We are now planning to handle such online frauds by playing on the offensive. We will be going after them, and retaliating and trapping them in their own game.
Taking into consideration the fact that on the eve of Women’s Day and other special days, the police provide additional patrolling and protection for women at night. However, don’t you feel it is incredibly unfortunate that there are no such measures on normal days?
Women are free to go anywhere, at any time. In case they face any certain difficulties, they can always call the police helpline number, and our officers will reach the spot within five minutes. We have also set in place visible patrolling at night, but it is impossible to change society’s mindset overnight. (Women helpline number: 181)
CCTV units are said to be dysfunctional In major areas such as Edapally, Palarivattom, and Vytilla?
We have spoken to Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) to install 5,000 cameras in the city; and 141 have already been installed. After the Kakkanad murder, we conducted a survey of the flats in the city. There is no dearth of surveillance cameras in the city as such. We could find 8,900 cameras at 789 apartment complexes within city police limits.
Former DGP Loknath Behera had raised concerns over terrorist sleeper cells in Kerala. Does the city police have a monitoring mechanism?
It is done by the central Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is independent of the local police. Sleeper cells don’t stick to one particular city; it is a wide network. We have trained squads at the city and state level. At the local level, we have a well-trained response squad called ‘City Warriors’.
After the Brahmapuram disaster, waste dumping has become a major issue in the city. At times, police intervention is sought...
As per law, every residence/complex should have a decentralised waste treatment plan. To ensure the set up of treatment plants, we have done a survey of 789 apartments in city limits – 511 are yet to set up plants. We have given guidelines to the people concerned regarding this.
You are known to be a writer as well. Are you currently working on anything?
Writing can be mentally exhausting. I am not working on anything at the moment. Although I do love writing, considering the fact that I’m in the hot seat now, I don’t get enough time. If at all I write, it will be nonfiction and a lot of research will be required. I might write if I get into a relaxed posting.