Chandy sets law-enforcement priorities
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said the police would go the extra mile to ensure justice to victims of violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation, particularly those hailing from the poor and marginalised sections of society.
Speaking to newspersons after chairing a top-level police meeting here, Mr. Chandy said the police would stringently enforce the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and ensure that victims of crime hailing from such sections of society received special protection and financial and legal aid as envisaged in the Act.
(A Crime Branch investigation team headed by Deputy Inspector-General of Police S. Sreejith had found that there were not less than 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal settlements in north Kerala. Most had been sexually exploited when they were minors. Many had been sexually exploited by their employers at workplaces. Their children were marked, pushing the youth into crime and drug addiction. The police feared that divisive forces could radicalise the impressionable youth for their political causes if the government dithered in addressing their social problems.)
Mr. Chandy said various departments would work in tandem with the police to protect and uphold the rights of the underprivileged sections of society.
The special team investigating the ice cream parlour sex scandal case would continue its work unobstructed and in accordance with law.
Internal vigilance
Commenting on the arrest of a police officer on the charge of leasing gangsters to murder a journalist in Kollam, Mr. Chandy said the police would strengthen its internal vigilance mechanisms to check corruption and criminalisation of the force from within.
Important junctions, bus stops, roads and shopping localities in the five municipal corporations in the State would come under nonstop surveillance of police security cameras. The police would directly recruit proficient helmsmen to man its 24 seafaring patrol boats.
The training period of policemen would be considered as service with retrospective effect, thereby causing a considerable increase in the pension of those who have already retired from the force.
The police would hire qualified personnel to operate its Regional Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Kannur and depute more men at the police station level to strengthen its neighbourhood watch scheme.
The police would crack down on organised crime, child beggary and burglary.
Mr. Chandy announced a reward of Rs.5,000 for actionable intelligence that led to detection of crime or apprehension of wanted men.
He urged the public to capture images of crime, criminal activity and wanted men on mobile phone and send it as a multi media message to a dedicated police website, which would be soon announced. Director-General of Police Jacob Punnose was present.
Reference from The Hindu.
