Police prepares disaster combat plan

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18.

The Delhi Police has prepared a contingency plan, including constitution of special response group (SRG), to extend active assistance in case of natural and manmade disasters.

The Minister of State for Home, Mr. Vidyasager, told the Rajya Sabha today that the SRGs would be located at Laxmi Nagar (East Delhi), Rohini (West Delhi) and Nehru Place (South Delhi).

Mr. Rao said certain steps had been taken to prevent incidents of attack on Delhi Police personnel by criminals. These include patrolling in groups of more than two; use of bullet-proof jackets and suitable weapons while conducting raids and during search operations; development of armed personnel during regular patrols and investigation of sensitive cases; imparting training to the police personnel in the modern methods of frisking.

He said an investment of Rs.2000 crore per annum, half of which came from the Centre, was being made for upgradation and modernisation of the state police forces.

Incidence of crime against women and the elderly in the Capital has shown a decline in the last six months. During the last six months, 1583 cases of crime against women and 19 cases against the elderly were registered by police as compared to 2072 and 27 cases respectively in the immediately preceding six months.

The steps taken by police include deployment of personnel at women's institutions; posting of armed pickets at strategic points; intensification of beat patrolling; meetings with residents' welfare associations; and deployment of police personnel in plainclothes in running buses, market places, business places and other crime-prone places.

The minister of State for Home, Mr. I.D.Swami, informed the House that Border Security Force had alerted its forward troops to be more vigilant `to check smuggling of fake currency notes into the country, particularly through the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Nepal borders. The CBI has already created a special unit for exclusive investigation of counterfeit notes.

A high-level committee has been constituted, with representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security Council Secretariat to go into the entire gamut of issues pertaining to the circulation of fake currency.

The Ministry of External Affairs had taken up the matter with the Nepalese Government which expressed its determination to take steps to prevent use of its territory for activities directed against India.

-UNI

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