Narendra Modi to attend top police officers conference in Kutch tomorrow
Ahmedabad: An all-India conference of top police officials, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will begin tomorrow in Kutch, where among other issues, ways to thwart attempts by IS to spread its base in the country are likely to be discussed.
The 50th edition of the All-India Directors General/ Inspectors General of Police Conference is being hosted at Dhordo village, organised near the India-Pakistan border from December 18-20, where other issues related to internal security would also come up for discussion.
During the conference, where Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also be present, ways to thwart attempts by ISIS to spread its base in the country are likely to be discussed. Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary will also be present. Last year, the conference was held at Guwahati (Assam) in November.
Gujarat Director General of Police P C Thakur had earlier said that one of the issues for discussion would be about IS plans on India and what kind of steps could be taken to "de-radicalise Indian Muslims" and to stop them from falling pray to the "malicious" propaganda of the global terror outfit.
The conference is organised by the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) and all heads of various police and other security agencies will attend it. Apart from all the DGPs and IGs of all the states and union territories, heads of National Investigation Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, IB, narcotics department and various police training academies will also take part in the conference.
DGs and IGs of paramilitary forces like Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force and Central Industrial Security Force will also be present on the occasion.
With the Prime Minister and the Home Minister scheduled to take part in the conference, Gujarat police and state government has left no stone unturned to secure the venue and surrounding areas.
Thakur along with Gujarat Chief Secretary G R Aloria visited the venue recently and took stock of the overall preparations and reviewed security arrangements. Both of them held meetings with local police officials as well as top officials of the BSF to ensure foolproof security cover. Gujarat CID DGP Pramod Kumar said police as well as other security agencies have been put on alert ahead of the meeting.
"We have already alerted state police, Indian Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and other security agencies, so that no one can infiltrate from the border on land or through coastal areas of state. We have also alerted neighbouring states to remain on vigil and beef up security," Kumar said.
As per the schedule prepared by the Central IB, Rajnath Singh will deliver the inaugural speech in the presence of the Prime Minister tomorrow. Modi, who will arrive at Bhuj tomorrow and is scheduled to stay there throughout the conference and deliver his address on the concluding day of the event, officials said.
According to Pramod Kumar, around 250 top officials from across the country would converge here for the conference. For the first time, all these top-ranking police officers are invited here with their families.
Dhordo is around 80 kms from Kutch's district headquarters Bhuj. Incidentally, the same venue also hosts the Gujarat government's famous 'Rann Utsav' every year, where a large tent-city comes up for the festival to accommodate tourists. The 'Rann Utsav', famed for its pristine white desert also kicks off tomorrow and will last till February 29 next year.
The participants of the conference would be accommodated at the same tent city. Before Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, this conference was held only in Delhi. For the first time, the Prime Minister had taken this conference out of Delhi and organised it in Guwahati last year. This year, Kutch was selected.
