Separate cells for sophisticated, high-tech criminals

State home minister R Ashoka has announced that a separate area would be set up within the jail where ‘sophisticated’ criminals — especially tech-savvy ones — will be housed. There are also plans to modernise the police force, since they are not equipped enough to handle hi-tech crime.

“We are making a list of specialised criminals and have identified 125 of them till now,” he said. Criminals these days use newer and better technology, hence the police need to be trained and technology needs to be upgraded to deal with criminals, he added.

To facilitate this, they plan to tie up with other countries and send officers in batches of 20s and 30s to various countries for training. “We can’t wait for the Centre to send them. Instead, we plan  to send them on our own,” he added.

To strengthen security measures, they have also planned to put a ‘net’ over the jail. “We want to improve jammers in the jail. Most criminals have 20-30 SIM cards and they use a card only once. We can trace the phone, however, we cannot trace the person who made the call,” he said, adding that a tender for Rs9 crore has been submitted and negotiations are on currently.

Through these measures, Ashoka said that the police are hoping to see a reduction of criminal activities by nearly 80%. He also added that many a time, the jammers installed in Vidhana Soudha were not as effective as they should be.

Security measures to reduce crime within the jail premises were also being chalked out. Installing scanners, checking all items and food material that enters the premises could solve some problems. “There should be better coordination between the prosecutors and the police department. We want Bangalore to be a terror-free city. We have observed that criminals working from other cities target Bangalore, but the police do not take ample measures to curb their moves,” he said.

Furthermore, the minister has asked for a database on the number of international residents in Bangalore and those who hold valid passports.

Every year, nearly 3,000 to 4,000 officers retire or die, leaving behind a shortage of police staff. “We want officers’ appointment to take place soon. The appointments take time since the recruitment has to be approved by the finance department, followed by a training period that lasts for one-and-a-half years.”
This year, Rs187 crore were allocated for additional 20 fire stations to be built across the state. In the coming year, 40 stations are to be completed.