The police at the grass root level reflects the total system:DG Om Prakash

Bengaluru: The new Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Om Prakash, who assumed office on Saturday, has indicated that his priority is intelligence gathering and strict action against the  people who use Facebook, whats app  and other types of social media  for spreading hatred , outrageous messages  and  false communally sensitive rumors.   He made this his priority in view of the anti-social elements which are trying to create communal tensions especially in the coastal Karnataka.

Om Prakash, spoke   on a variety of issues engaging the people and political leadership, following his elevation as Karnataka's top policeman. Here are excerpts from the interview.

he said his aim is to keep the law and order situation under control and focus on crime prevention, which is the main motto of the police service as mentioned in the Police Manual.  The safety of the citizen is the first priority and  improving the existing  system is of equal importance. Crime detection along with crime prevention will be mandatory for the police force.

The complaints of attacks on women and children in various forms  are on the rise and which has to be  taken serious. He won’t tolerate such things and the criminals involved in those cases will be dealt with accordingly. At the same time, to focus on preventing such crimes and the police-public information exchange system has to be improved.

In his opinion, the police at the grass root level reflects the total system. The police stations are the foundation of the police system. The police stations have to be improved while reacting to public. His idea is to improve the ‘police-citizen relationship’ and that has to be developed at the police station level. The behavioral changes among the police staff and a friendly atmosphere should be evolved between the police and the public. If it happens, then everything will be set on the right path. If so, maintaining law and order, crime prevention and other police tasks will go smoothly.

He said proper investigation into any criminal case is important to help the actual victims. Investigation, prosecution and judiciary are the three major steps in the process.  Investigation is done by the police and they have to file a charge-sheet before the court proceedings. If we don’t do investigation properly and file charge -sheets without having proper evidences, there will not be any convictions on the real criminals.  So investigation is like our own baby and we have to develop the evidences in any cases and  it will help the accused to get convicted. His goal will be to achieve more conviction rates in the criminal cases in Karnataka.

He also said about communal riots in DK and Udupi, that he has already alerted the police to be tough on communal goondas, to identify the communal elements and act accordingly. he was sure to say that he won’t tolerate any such incidents in any part of the state.  

About hate messages in social sites he expressed his views that,"It is a big challenge for the police. I have asked my officers to monitor such usages in Facebook, whats app and any other such media.  We will book such persons without any hesitation based on their postings or status messages which are likely to spoil  communal harmony.   I know, to some extent, it will be a challenge to control these social media, whose servers are in USA or other countries.  I have taken this issue very seriously and I will arrange a meeting with senior police officers, cyber crime experts, and technical experts to solve this problem. My appeal to the public is that not to believe such false rumors etc".

On the Naxal menace in the state, he said,"There is no major naxal threat in the state. However,  we should not allow it to grow. Our Anti Naxal force is doing their job decently. We have to monitor them regularly".