Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday that the state government has requested Rs 175 crore funds from the Centre to procure 17 anti-drone systems in the next financial year.
The DGP also stated that Punjab Police will operationalise two software systems to tackle organised crime in a more scientific manner. Speaking to mediapersons in Chandigarh, Yadav outlined the key focus areas of the police for the coming year.
He said three anti-drone systems have already been installed in border areas, and six more will be made operational soon. Yadav said the Punjab government has requested funds to the tune of Rs 175 crore from the Centre to procure 17 more anti-drone systems next year. He added that a high-powered committee has been formed for the procurement process.
“Trials (in coordination) with the BSF are going on, an expression of interest has been issued, and the best available system will be procured in a coordinated manner with the BSF and other agencies,” Yadav said.
The panel will be led by Special DGP Ram Singh and will include senior IPS officers Praveen Sinha and Neelabh Kishore. Speaking about the ongoing anti-drug campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, Yadav said the police have achieved significant success through the Safe Punjab helpline.
He said the focus will now be on financial investigations to break the backbone of drug trafficking networks. The Anti-Narcotics Task Force of Punjab Police will be modernised, and its offices will be opened in Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Jalandhar by March next year, Yadav said.
To deal with organised crime in a scientific manner, the police will introduce two new software systems, he said.
“One is an upgraded version of the Punjab Artificial Intelligence System (PAIS), in which voice analysis has already been introduced. When an inmate enters a jail, his voice sample is taken. This is being extended to facial recognition,” the officer said. He said this technology will be used effectively to deal with organised crime.
The second system, organised crime information software version 2.0, will be made operational next year. Yadav said “It will be a query-based search system. It has been linked to the NIA's software on organised crime for seamless exchange of information with the national database.”
Yadav also spoke about plans to link the passport issuance system with the criminal record verification system. He said this will help prevent criminals from leaving the country by exploiting loopholes.
He said the police will focus on hybrid threats such as cross-border smuggling through drones, foot soldiers involved in terror activities, and organised crime networks.
Yadav said “We will operationalise a strategy involving issuance of Red Corner and Blue Corner notices in coordination with the CBI and the NIA, and our focus will be on bringing criminals from abroad to face the law.”
He said the entire ecosystem of crime, including financiers and their supporters, will be mapped thoroughly. The networks will then be targeted and busted.
Yadav said work on installing over 2,300 CCTV cameras at 585 locations as a second line of defence will be completed before March. He added that this will significantly strengthen the internal security grid.
The DGP also said the response time for the 112 emergency helpline will be reduced to 7–8 minutes from the current 12–13 minutes.
“For this, an ultra-modern control system will be set up in Sector 89, Mohali, at a cost of Rs 200 crore in a phased manner, while Rs 125 crore will be spent on upgradation of vehicles,” he said.
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