Telangana police is one of the best in country, pats DGP

Hyderabad: The Telangana Police is a dynamic and robust force. It is a dedicated team and strongly believes in friendly policing with focus on prevention of crime investigations, maintenance of law and order, contain drug trafficking and ensure free and fair elections during Lok Sabha particularly regarding illegal cash flow and liquor said the DGP Ravi Gupta in an exclusive interview to MM Farooqui.

Q: Police play a crucial role in the criminal justice system. They must focus on prevention of crime, investigation, maintenance of law and order, and protection of human rights. What are the problems the police department encounters in performance of their duties?

A: Telangana State police is functioning very well and focusing on maintaining law and order, taking stringent action against the accused, drug and prohibition offenders, safety of women, children, senior citizens and vulnerable sections of society. Police work without any break; the police are performing their duty which also causes a lot of stress and family life also suffers. However, there is low appreciation from the people.

Q: How is the police planning to tackle the movement of drugs flow to the State from States such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and others?

A: Blaming someone will not achieve our desired results, we must catch the big fish who supplies drugs. We are working towards identifying the routes, and places from where the drugs are coming. We are trying to set up a human network. A small amount of ganja or other drugs entering the state is very difficult to detect. Surprise checks are being conducted on various modes of transport especially in bordering districts of neighbouring states.

Q: Does the police face any political interference in the functioning?

A: You should not ask such political questions. Our police are one of the best in the country.

Q: Now many allegations involving senior officials including some IAS officers are coming out and the government says they will be investigated. How come special branches in the past did not bring them out?

A: Police can act if there are complaints. As far as police is concerned whether it is an officer, or a common man all are equal before law. Any complaint against any officer or any individual would be dealt as per law.

Q: What stringent measures are the State police planning to take to address the rising spurious drug cases and drug cases are high in the state. In the past cases involving celebrities were taken up but dropped like hot potatoes.

A: We are very clear on this. We will have zero tolerance policy towards drugs. Anyone engaged in drugs including selling, purchasing, or possessing contrabands shall be dealt stringently as per the laws. Anyone allowing their premises where drugs can be used or available shall also be severely dealt with. Consumer whether a celebrity or common man is like a victim, the supplier and originator are most important, we are trying to establish the links and routes from where these contrabands are coming so that we can break the network. The state police have 33 sniffer dogs who have been trained to sniff drugs, and we have been making use of these dogs. And recently, police held raids in pubs in the city. All cases will be taken to their logical conclusion.

Q: How well is the department geared up to use technological advances to contain the rising cyber-crime cases?

A: The Telangana State Police has established an exclusive cyber security bureau, making it the country’s sole agency of its kind for combating cybercrime.

Telangana is the first state to have a dedicated call centre for 1930, the national helpline for cybercrimes. We are acquiring a lot of gadgets, equipment and software to tackle cybercrime. Because of the boom IT industry here in Hyderabad, the number of cases are going up.

Q: Lok Sabha elections are round the corner. How do you propose to control flow of money in the elections.

A: Telangana is fully prepared to handle such situations. Efforts are already underway to ensure smooth and incident free conduct of elections. We will have networking with people and seek their participation in giving information. If it is correct, a suitable appreciation award will be given to them.