BHUBANESWAR: The new Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik on Sunday said technologically upgrading the police force will be a priority for him.
Talking to this paper after assuming charge as police chief at the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack, he said man-management and infrastructure development will form the focus areas as the police have to continue their fight against the Left Wing Extremists as well as organised crime but it cannot be possible without equipping the police technologically.
While combating the Red rebels will top the agenda, augmenting human resources will be key to achieving the goal. “For that, I will make an endeavour to raise the strength of police force by filling up the vacant posts while modernising it at the same time,” he said. He said police modernisation process and infrastructure development will receive special attention to overcome the challenges. However, all this must lead to an overall improvement in law and order situation since crime control and people-friendly policing will remain the prime objective of the State Police.Another major focus area will be arresting crimes against women and weaker sections of the society, Marik said. The new police chief also stressed on brining about an image makeover of police which, he said, can be done by winning the trust and faith of the public. Civil policing will also receive special attention, he added.
He further said State Police will keep a close watch on organised crime. “If you look at the last one year, the Economic Offences Wing and Special Task Force have done an impressive job in tackling the white collar crimes as well as mafia syndicates. Such work will continue in the future too,” he added pointing out how police took on the Tito gang in Kendrapara district to facilitate execution of important government projects.
Crime apart, traffic management in big cities will also be a thrust area. The burgeoning vehicular traffic resulting in rising accidents and increasing snarls which have led to law and order situations need special attention and strategies will be drawn up to solve such issues, Marik said. Earlier, the DGP took over from outgoing police chief Prakash Mishra and inspected the Guard of Honour at the State Police Headquarters. Senior police officers were also present.