Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police will have a special unit comprising police officers with expertise in dealing with organised crime including drugs and cyber offences in the twin city. Speaking to reporters, Commissioner of Police Sudhanshu Sarangi said, “Following deliberations at a meeting of senior citizens including many former bureaucrats and ex-top cops, we felt the need for a special crime unit in Commissionerate Police like the State Crime Branch to exclusively probe cases of orgniased crime and drugs-related incidents.”
Sarangi also said that similar units had been functioning in other commissionerate systems across the country including Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. The unit comprising 25 to 30 well-trained police personnel will be headed by a senior police officer in the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), added Sarangi. He said the DIG rank officer will hold the position of a joint commissioner of police as well.
The special branch, which should be ready to probe any complex cases assigned to it by the commissioner, would have its own sub unit of officers to collect intelligence. He said the officers deployed at police stations lack sufficient time to deal with organised and cyber crimes.
Sarangi informed the media that the commissionerate police has been working upon the proposal to set up the special unit and it will be sent to the home department for its consideration by the end of this week.
He told media persons that senior citizens who took part in the meeting also stressed the need for more funds and police personnel for better policing in the commissionerate.
The rise in drug peddling and in cases involving cybercrimes continues to remain a major headache for the commissionerate police for last couple of years.