E-Paper
Jumping border after crime to be lot harder
For trapping criminals and drug smugglers at inter-state borders, the police of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have decided to work together. It was a day out in the field for police officials from the border districts of these states, and the objective was to prepare a joint strategy to bust the criminal networks with coordinated effort.
For trapping criminals and drug smugglers at inter-state borders, the police of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have decided to work together.
It was a day out in the field for police officials from the border districts of these states, and the objective was to prepare a joint strategy to bust the criminal networks with coordinated effort. The officers also decided to review the strategy every three months.
Kandu Khera was chosen for the meeting because the borders of Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana meet this Muktsar village. Nirmal Singh, inspector general of police (IGP), Bathinda Range, led the Punjab team. Senior superintendents of police Santosh Chalika (Ganganagar) and Dr Ravi (Hanumangarh) from Rajasthan, and Davinder Yadav (Sirsa) and Satinder Gupta (Fatehabad) from Haryana were present.
Drug smugglers and fugitives often jump borders to escape pursuit. "The police of three states have joined hands to make it easy to trap the criminals who cross over to the neighbouring territory," said IG Dhillon. "All three states have many proclaimed offenders in adjoining states."
The recent killing of inter-state criminal Gursewak Singh Shera in an encounter is an example of what police coordination can do. "We'll ensure better communication among the station house officers (SHOs) of the border districts," said Dhillono. An SP in the each border district of the three states will work as nodal officer for the seamless exchange of information."
The police will share intelligence to plan out raids. The police officers had a joint meeting at the government rest house in Badal village of Muktsar district. From Killianwali, they proceeded to Kandu Khera, that shares border with Haripur village of Rajasthan and Lohgarh of Haryana.
Punjab shares 150-km-long border with Rajasthan and Haryana in the Bathinda police range alone, which includes nearly 100 sensitive points. "The road we travelled today isn't the only escape route that smugglers take to exploit our lack of coordination," said Dhillon. "In Punjab, we have identified 24 points in Muktsar district, 18 in Mansa, and 26 in Fazilka."
The IGs of Sirsa (Haryana) and Bikaner (Rajasthan) failed to make it to the meeting, and the SSPs from these states represented them. Deputy inspector generals Paramraj Singh Umranangal (Firozepur) and Parmod Baan (Bathinda); and SSPs Indermohan Singh (Muktsar), Sukhchain Singh Gill (Bathinda), Narinder Bhargav (Mansa), Amar Singh Chahal (Fazilka), and Gurinder Singh Dhillon (Faridkot) were present.
