

MADURAI: The performance of the police force will improve with the slew of measures announced by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay for modernising the police, fire, and forensic departments, stated Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) Dr Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal in a brief telephonic interview with TNIE.
The addition of 29,108 police personnel to the state force over the next five years too will help, he added. With this, the overall strength of the department will increase and more efficient policing can be expected in the coming days, the DGP noted.
The measures announced by the government the other day include around Rs 212 crore for a police modernisation programme, Rs 200 crore for procuring new vehicles, among others.
The monthly contingency allocation has been increased, and the special units will also receive enhanced allocations.
The Singappen Special Force and the Anti-Narcotics Force which are already in place will give special attention to women and children and work to curb the movement of drugs, DGP Aggarwal added.
Responding to queries on the alleged poor performance of special units such as the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in terms of recovery and convictions as well as the lack of infrastructure and manpower, he said various factors are involved.
Sometimes, in such cases, victims come late to lodge complaints, but the department is doing its best in all respects, including identifying the accused, tracing their properties, attaching them and recovering them. He said importance is being given to all wings and units of the department.
The EOW is investigating the FQL cryptocurrency scam that has affected several people in the Madurai region.