DGP Abhay said that there has been a significant decline in Maoist violence and resultant deaths in Odisha in 2020.
Inaugurating the Senior Police Officers’ Conference, DGP said that as many as 17 hardcore Maoists were neutralized, 32 arrested while 21 surrendered during 2020.
“We have urged the Centre to keep the five districts of Angul, Boudh, Deogarh, Nayagarh and Sambalpur out of Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme,” he said.
DGP said that Odisha Police has increased its presence in the Cut Off Area(Swabhiman Anchal) in Malkangiri with new bases set up in several parts of the region.
DGP appreciated the outstanding work done by the SPs of Malkangiri, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts as well as the DIG State Intelligence Wing (SIW) in containing Maoist activities in Odisha.
He, however, added that the Left Wing Extremism is dynamic in nature and keeps changing, and urged the police forces in the districts to continue with their ongoing operations and be prepared to tackle any situation.
At the same time, the overall law and order situation was by and large peaceful and the current crime rate was under control, the DGP said.
DGP complimented police personnel in the State for discharging their duties with compassion and empathy despite the unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“The Covid-19 had impacted people of all the segments in the state. The Odisha Police personnel handled the situation with compassion and empathy. The police personnel created a new image by devoting themselves to the service of the State during the worst situations,” Mr.Abhay said.
DGP informed that 47 police personnel laid down their lives in the line of duty and over 900 personnel donated plasma for treatment COVID patients.
“The Odisha Police has also done a remarkable job in launching a crackdown on the illegal narcotics trade with record seizure of ganja and brown sugar. The drive against extortion is also underway and the efforts have already started showing positive results,” the DGP said.
Extorting the police officials to protect women and children from violence, he said the women and child victims.
“Their victimization must receive priority attention at all levels,” the DGP asserted adding, “Crime victims remain at the centre of our universe. Treating crime victims with empathy and prompt action after fair investigation is the minimum that society expects from us.”
Ruing the fact that a large number of investigations have failed the trial test and acquittals as a proportion of total decided cases is high, he said that there is a need to improve police investigation as well as the purview of follow-up during the trial.
“We must remain accountable to the law for all our actions. It is the duty of all police leaders to enforce this accountability,” he added.
Expressing how social media has affected the lives of the police officers significantly, the DGP said, “The speed with which information or allegation, fact or rumor travel now is very fast. Our response has to match this speed.”
“The concept of golden hour has to be incorporated in our cybercrime response. We must integrate new technology in our work processes to reach out to a large number of people and improve our response,” he added.
The DGP highlighted the importance of 5T Charter (Teamwork, Technology, Transparency, Time leading to Transformation) in the Police