Red menace under control: Home department

RANCHI: As many as five splinter groups of the CPI (Maoist) have been wiped out from the state in the last 1,000 days, director general of police (DGP) D K Pandey said on Monday.
Briefing the media on the achievements of the home department under the Raghubar Das government, Pandey said police was successful in carrying out operations against CPI (Maoist), People's liberation Front of India (PLFI) and Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC)."Pahari Cheeta, Guerrilla force, SPM, SJM and Sangharsha Jan Mukti Parishad do not exist anymore. Nearly 50 Maoists have surrendered in the last 1,000 days," he said.
The DGP also made an appeal to Maoist leader Sudhakar Reddy and asked him to either surrender or face police action. "The government has revised the bounty on his head to Rs 1 crore," Pandey said.
He added, "The government has revised its policies to extend maximum support to the Maoists to help them return to mainstream. If they are not willing to do so, then they should be prepared for police action. The government is committed to wipe them out by the end of this calender year."
Home secretary SKG Rahate said besides curbing Maoist activities, the government has also focussed on the use of electronic surveillance in controlling the crime rate. "We have launched the crime and criminal tracking network system and facilitated the online registration of complaints. On the other hand, we have partnered with the civil society to improve policing in the state," Rahate said.
He added, "The policy decisions have been fast-tracked with least political interference during the last 1,000 days. We are soon going to provide online facilities like verification for domestic help, tenants and follow-up on abduction cases."
The home secretary also said that as many as 2,000 CCTV cameras have been installed in Ranchi. "Today, 28 police control vans are operating in the capital in one shift. At least 337 vehicles are engaged in highway patrolling," Rahate said.
The department, however, admitted that cyber crime is emerging as a new challenge for the police and efforts are on to check the menace through proper training of investigating officers. "We have identified 44 cyber experts who are now undergoing training at Karmatanr, Radhanagar, Jamtara and Sahebganj. These are the areas which register maximum cyber-related crimes," Pandey said, adding that three more places will be added to the list.
The home department has also identified 13 focus areas in LWE dominated pockets where police camps will be set up by December. "These centres will be equipped with 4G internet services to give a smooth experience to the villagers," the DGP said.