Kochi: The Kochi police has revamped the ‘City Task Force’, the dedicated squad to rein-in goon mafia, by including those personnel with proven track record in anti-goon exercises and also charting out model action plans to be followed against different types of goons – those with political backing, land mafia and those indulging in blackmailing and criminal activities among others.
The measure was taken at a review meet held on Tuesday in which Kochi City Police Commissioner M P Dinesh and new Deputy Commissioner (Law and Traffic) G H Yatish Chandra led the discussions.
The task force, first such initiative across the state, was created in October last to curb goon menace in the city and works under the direct supervision of Ernakulam range IG, S Sreejith.
“To make the squad more effective, we’ve included those police personnel with track records of handling goon cases. A major exercise was done to chart out model plan of action to be followed to deal with different categories of goons. For example those working with political backing will be handled in a different way than while dealing with the land mafia,” said Yatish Chandra, who recently took over the DCP mantle from Arul R B Krishna. It was Arul who used to co-ordinate the squad so far.
Meanwhile, the City Task Force is preparing a new list of goons. “We’ve asked all Station Head Officers to give the goon lists. We’re preparing a separate list to account for new goons in the city. Also we’re seeking the help of the public to inform us of those indulging in goon activities. We’ll verify the information and if found true, the accused persons will be included in the goon list through a decision to be made at the Commissioner or DCP level,” the officer said.
The details of the informant will be kept completely secret. Information on goon activities can be given to the helpline number 7559899100, commissionerate call center 04842385006 and shadow police number 9497980430, a statement said.
