Bhubaneswar: In the wake of the high profile rape and murder case of a minor girl in Nayagarh district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday announced the creation of a special wing in the police department to curb rising cases of crime against women and children.
The announcement was made at the valedictory session of 62nd senior police officers’ conference, 2020 via videoconferencing.
“Crime against women and children remains our focus area. I hereby announce creation of Special wing in Odisha Police to look after offences against women and children. I expect that with these initiatives, quality services will be provided to the women and children,” the CM said.
Expressing concern over low conviction rate in the state, Patnaik asked senior cops to take all possible steps to enhance conviction rate by factoring in modern technology into the investigation.
“Road Safety is another area of concern. Road accident related fatalities are very high in the state. There is a need to take up preventive and enforcement initiatives as well as public awareness campaigns in coordination with other stakeholders like Transport, Works department etc. to bring down such fatalities,” he said.
Stating that the law and order situation in the state remained peaceful in 2020, Naveen said, “A progressive and sustainable improvement has been noticed in the Left Wing Extremism situation. Two brave hearts laid down their lives this year in the fight against Maoists. Families of the martyrs should be taken care of by the state police.”
As the LWE problem is dynamic in nature and keeps changing, he asked the police officers to closely monitor it and continue to take focused efforts. He commended the work of SPs of Malkangiri and Kandhamal in this connection. He also appreciated the efforts of SP, Keonjhar and Angul for the overall improvement in the industrial atmosphere.
The Chief Minister also lauded the overall effort of Odisha police in handling the pandemic with compassion and empathy. While doing so many police personnel have laid down their lives in the line of duty. He paid homage to the departed souls and assured their families of all support.
Speaking on 5T and Mo Sarkar initiatives, the Chief Minister said, “It is satisfying to see that the feedback taken under Mo Sarkar has been very positive. Though certain good initiatives under 5T in Odisha Police have been taken up, there is a need to increase the same.”
Within record time, special family pension has been sanctioned to 38 next of kin. Similarly, 29 next of kin have received `50 Lakh ex-gratia compensation and rest should be processed without any delay. He also lauded the 930 police personnel who have voluntarily donated plasma for treatment of Covid patients for their spirit of service.
He congratulated the state police for organising an effective drive against narcotic drugs throughout the state with the STF taking the lead. A record quantity of narcotics has been seized. Commendable work has been done by DIG, STF and SP, Koraput.
However, special drive against organized crime and extortion should be carried out with more focused efforts, he told the cops. On this occasion, the CM inaugurated six police stations at Angul Sadar in Angul district, Bharatpur in Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda Sadar in Jharsuguda, Belaguntha in Ganjam, and Sabrang and Pirahat in Bhadrak district.
PNN
