Punjab DGP Suresh Arora on Wednesday called for greater cooperation among the Northern states to tackle the various policing challenges, particularly those related to drugs, terror and organised crime, as well as growing radicalisation.He was addressing the 5th meeting of Northern Region Police Coordination Committee, convened here by Punjab Police.Top cops from eight/UTs attended the meeting which engaged in a wide-ranging brainstorming-session and discussed a broad range of issues pertaining to internal security, terror threats, cross-border terrorism, drug abuse and radicalization of youth. It was decided to promote greater coordination and mutual information-sharing to tackle various types of crimes among the member states.Delivering his keynote address, Director General Police, Punjab Suresh Arora said such meetings have become more relevant in the context of manifold security challenges and problems being faced by the country.Arora said a concerted effort to fight terrorism and other types of organised crimes in the Northern region was the need of the hour through joint mechanisms. He dwelt on a range of issues such as activities of drug trafficking, gangsters, and menace of countrymade illegal weapons in the member states.All the participants resolved to share realtime inputs and information about criminals and drug peddlers.Arora appreciated the member states/UTs, namely Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chandigarh, for ensuring effective coordination among their police forces.DGP Arora suggested deployment of Paramilitary forces in Jails of member states as an inter-state regional deployment mechanism help contain the activities of smugglers.On the suggestion of Randeep Singh Rana from NDRF, DGP Arora said that Punjab Armed Police would be trained through the NDRF for relief and rehabilitation operations during any natural calamities/disasters.
Rana proposed holding of Community Awareness Programme and familiarization exercises in all the States.Punjab DGP (Intelligence) Dinkar Gupta briefed the meeting about emerging security scenario in the border State of Punjab and inter-state, inter-regional activities of anti-national and terrorist elements. He called for joint efforts on de-radicalization.Emphasizing on the need to check inflow and smuggling of sophisticated weapons, especially country-made illegal weapons, he proposed to the neighboring States to give more attention to this challenge. He also suggested formation of a common communication group by the stakeholder States for quick sharing of inputs.Expressing satisfaction over better coordination between Punjab Police and BSF, DGP (Law & Order) Hardeep Singh Dhillon informed that Punjab has deployed 50 companies, equipped with armored vehicles, along the border as the line of second defence, in consultation with the BSF. He also emphasized the need for strict vigil along Ujh and Ravi rivers on the J&K border.Underscoring the need for effective cooperation and better coordination between Punjab and member states, ADG CRPF VSK Kaumudi proposed shifting of hardcore criminals to Jails of other States and suggested that their court appearances could be facilitated through video conferencing.ADGP Headquarters J&K Abdul Gani Mir , citing the activities of drug trafficking across the international border and PoK, briefed the participants on the efforts being taken by the police and state government towards de-addiction.
Abdul Gani Mir, ADGP J&K spoke about the J&K experience of using the Public Safety Act to detain Drug smugglers/suppliers in his state. Mir also spoke about the functioning of a Drug de-addiction centre run by the J&K Police, which had become highly popular because it was very effective in drug de-addiction.Underlining the need to control the menace of drugs and smuggling of narcotics, SK Jha, DDG North Zone, stressed on effective financial investigations regarding drug trafficking and smugglers so as to cut the supply-lines of drugs from across the international borders.Among others, Mohammad Mustafa (DGP STF), OP Mishra (DIG Chandigarh), Dr Ajeet Kumar Singla (Additional CP Delhi), Manmohan Singh (Additional Director, SIB, Chandigarh), PK Aggarwal (DGP Crime, Haryana), Abdul Gani Mir (ADGP Headquarters, J&K), Rajesh Kumar (DIG ITBP, Panchkula), VSK Kaumudi (ADG CRPF), Jyotirmay Chakravarty (ADG SSB), SK Jha (DDG North Zone, NCB), Randeep Singh Rana (from NDRF), Barinder Jeet Singh (SSP STF Uttrakhand), Dinesh Kumar Yadav (IGP Crime, Himachal Pradesh), Tarun Gauba (DIG CBI, Chandigarh), Ashish Choudhary (DIG NIA), HS Dhillon (DIG BSF) also shared their views during the meeting.