Assam CM attends SP Conference at Bongaigaon, announces police reforms
Jul 28, 2023
Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 28 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday urged the Assam Police to develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for probing cases of 'love-jihad' in the state.
He said that the police must develop SoPs to help it to probe ‘love jihad’, as the government is contemplating to provide legislative backing to ensure the prosecution of accused held for polygamy and child marriages.
Addressing the SP conference being held at Bongaigaon on Friday, the Chief Minister said that in the wake of ‘love-jihad’, the police forces must be empowered with specific operating procedures to deal with the menace.
"With regard to combating child marriages, another operation will be launched in the month of September in the state," CM Sarma said.
The Chief Minister said that crime against women and children in the state has come down drastically.
He, however, said that high-profile cases will be tried in special courts and special public prosecutors will be deployed and a charge sheet will be filed within a stipulated period for serving as a deterrent to future crimes.
The Chief Minister also said that Assam Police must examine how Indian Army personnel can be freed from the state by completely withdrawing Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state.
He also said that since insurgency has been defeated in the state, efforts must be initiated to proactively monitor and neutralise elements who try to regroup.
He also reiterated that Assam Police must maintain strict vigil to prevent surrendered militants from going back to violence.
Chief Minister Sarma stressed the need of intensifying drug seizures across the state, especially at the entry and exit points.
Speaking on the drink and driving cases, the Chief Minister said that strict enforcement of traffic acts including a combination of fines and cancelling driving licenses might prove to be a deterrent.
For combating economic crimes and corruption, Chief Minister asked the SPs to ensure that the smugglers do not get the chance to illegally export subsidized fertilisers outside.
He said that vigilance needs to be steeped up to ensure that Assam does not become a traffic corridor for transporting illegal liquor, Burmese supari and other contraband items.
Stating that over 100 corrupt public servants have been arrested on corruption charges, he said that action against corrupt officials will be intensified.
For empowering the police forces, the Chief Minister said that Assam Police will soon become a zero-vacancy force as all vacant positions will be filled up soon. 119 new police stations are being built and by February 2024, all five battalions will have permanent office infrastructure, CM Sarma added.
Talking about the police reforms, Sarma said that all general diary (GD) entries will be digitized so that no manipulations of criminal investigations can be done in later cases.
Talking about the large-scale application of digitization, the Chief Minister said that more than one lakh fifty thousand police verifications have been completed through the m-passport police app for addressing passport applicants.
On the need for citizen-centric policing, the Chief Minister reiterated the improved coordination between police and home guards and involving competent constables in investigative duties. He also said that draft statutory rules will be published shortly for strengthening the partnership between police and 'nagarik' committees to deliver citizen-centric policing.
On the occasion of the observation of Deshbhakti Divas today, Chief Minister Sarma paid rich floral tributes to the portrait of Tarun Ram Phukan.
He also remained present in an MoU signing ceremony between Assam Police, Microsoft and Indian Future Foundation for strengthening cyber and digital security.
