Kochi: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday warned the cops to desist from using force against “common man for any reason” while exhorting them to make police stations people-friendly. “This very concept of police assault is a colonialist notion and it holds no significance in a modern, democratic society,” Mr Vijayan said while inaugurating a newly-constructed police station building here. Pointing to high incidence of goon activity in Kochi, the Chief Minister cautioned that stern action would be initiated against cops found colluding with anti-social elements. He also asked them to enforce law without any fear or favoritism.
The state government is embarking on a plan to establish dedicated city police stations to maintain the law and order in key areas across all the major cities in the state, Mr Vijayan said, adding that higher ranking police officers would be deployed at these stations. Besides, the government has also plans to install surveillance cameras along all major roads to enable authorities monitor activities inside moving vehicles.
“Already directions have been handed out to the police department to identify major locations suitable for installing the cameras,” he said. State Police Chief Lokanath Behera said plans were afoot to open the Info city police station in Kakkanad at a cost of '2.5 crore. The station, with all the best available systems to check the rising number of cyber crimes, is expected to be operational in eight months.
