Mangalore, Feb 12: Asking for people's cooperation with the police department in maintaining peace and harmony in the district in the backdrop of a tense situation in Ullal, Home Minister K J George requested the citizens not to indulge in making provocative remarks or instigating the people, in order to create unrest in the area.
Briefing mediapersons following a meeting with senior police officials at the IGP office during his visit to the city on Wednesday, he said that the government was dedicated to maintain law and order in the region. The police department has prevented further untoward incidents from occurring and has taken effective preventive measures in this regard, thereby averting major clashes in Ullal. The police will also take necessary steps to maintain law and order in the region ahead of elections, he said.
Responding to the allegation that several innocent persons were taken into custody by the police in Ullal in connection with the unrest, the minister said that the police commissioner and senior police officials would review the investigation and file charges against the accused if there is evidence of involvement in attacks. If they are found innocent, they will be released. All the citizens should abet the law and order system, he said.
With regard to rehabilitation of tribals in Naxal-affected areas, he said that an NGO had come forward to hold talks and discuss terms with the government on behalf of the tribals. “The rehabilitation of tribals cannot be done by forcing them out of forest areas, and hence the rehabilitation process will proceed only with their approval. We are in the stage of having discussions with them; it is still in preliminary stage,” he said.
Squads to check interstate naxal activities
Mr George said that anti-naxal squads had been formed which will perform combined combing operations for naxals with Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) in the bordering areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. A nodal officer in each state will head the combing operations and will be in constant touch with his counterpart in the other two states, he said.
He said that the Home Ministry had given permission for the coastal security police force to recruit additional personnel in the coastal districts in the state through a committee formed for this purpose.
The Home Ministry has also given approval for recruitment of additional 8,500 personnel in the police department across the state, out of which 20 percent will be reserved for women and 7.5 per cent for tribals. Likewise, an additional 7,000 home guards will be recruited in the regular home guard department in the state. Permission has also been granted to depute police inspectors and sub-inspectors in police stations under the western range, he said.
Establishment of additional 35 police stations in the state has also been approved in the state, he added.
ADGP (Law and Order) M N Reddi, ADGP (Internal Security) T Suneel Kumar, IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy, ANF Commandant Seemanth Kumar Singh and Mangalore City Police Commissioner R Hithendra were present.
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