Bhubaneswar: Odisha and four other eastern states Tuesday resolved to strengthen inter-state coordination for effectively combating organised crimes, Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), infiltration and other emerging security challenges in the region, officials said. “Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal agreed on this at a high-level meeting of the Eastern Regional Police Coordination Committee (ERPCC) held here under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs,” they said.
The meeting, chaired by Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, was attended by the DGPs of the four other states, along with senior officers from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Central Police Organisations (CPOs) and other officers from the participating states. Khurania said that contemporary security threats such as organised crime, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and LWE transcend geographical boundaries and therefore demand a coordinated, technology-driven and intelligence-led response. “No state can effectively address these challenges in isolation. There is a need to continuous intelligence sharing, seamless information exchange, adoption of advanced technology and close inter-state cooperation to counter increasingly sophisticated criminal and extremist networks,” Khurania said. Officials attending the meeting said that the day-long deliberations covered a wide range of issues of strategic importance.
Detailed discussions were held on the monitoring and effective rehabilitation of surrendered Maoists, evolving coordinated strategies to curb inter-state narcotics trafficking, strengthening inter-state cooperation to combat cybercrime through real-time intelligence sharing, expediting the transfer and time-bound investigation of Zero FIRs, enhancing railway security, and developing a unified strategy to address the challenge of illegal infiltration.
Acknowledging the importance of sustained collaboration, the states also agreed to institutionalise regular coordination meetings at regular intervals. Khurania expressed confidence that the decisions and recommendations emerging from the deliberations would significantly strengthen inter-state cooperation, enhance law enforcement capabilities and provide a robust framework for effectively addressing complex security challenges across Eastern India.
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