Home minister asks police to end drugs, traffic woes in 3 months

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the police will take necessary action to eliminate the drug menace from the city.

Visiting the Bengaluru Police Commissioner's Office on Friday, Parameshawara inspected the police control units following which he held a meeting with the City Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioners, CCB Joint Commissioner, and other IPS officers including the Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Mohan here. Speaking at a press conference following the discussion, the Home Minister said that the police will take necessary steps to eliminate the drug-menace from the city.

"The police have been conducting raids and nabbing drug peddlers. So far 106 foreigners have been deported from the city. The police, through the External Affairs Ministry (EAM), will inform High Commissions or ambassadors of foreign nations about the crimes committed by their nationals. This will help expedite deportation," Parameshwara said. He added that he will ensure all the measures to keep the drugs away from Bengaluru.

Besides installing more than 2,000 high definition surveillance cameras in crowded spaces and spaces frequented by women, the minister proposed to set up 20 safe islands for the safety of women. An additional 7,000 cameras will be installed across the city to monitor the city, he said.

Parameshwara asked all the rank officers to spend a few hours everyday on the roads to keep a check on the activities in the city in the morning and the evenings. Speaking about the traffic issues, the minister set a deadline of three months for the police to find a way to end traffic problems.

"After three months, we should not receive traffic-related complaints from the public," he instructed the police. He said that there were no plans to restart the towing of vehicles. "We have decided to deploy additional staff from civil police during the peak hours to overcome staff shortage, " he said.