Need efforts to restore tarnished reputation of Maharashtra Police: Dy CM

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday underlined the need to restore the "reputation" of state police which he said was "tarnished" by some people in the recent past.

Fadnavis, who handles the Home portfolio, was speaking on the sideline of a conference of senior police officers on the Crime and Law and Order held at the centre for police research here.

He said a strategy is being prepared to eradicate the drug menace in the state and a drive would be launched.

"A conference of senior police officials on crime was organised. The status of crime rate in different units of police, the rate of conviction, strategies, and other aspects of policing were discussed and deliberated during the meeting," he said.

Fadnavis said he assured police officers that in the new regime, they will not have to face any "wrongdoing" in terms of transfers and postings.

"Recently, we effected transfers and postings, and nobody had to face any (allegations) related to corruption. It is expected they (police officers) will perform their further duties transparently," the Deputy CM said.

The Eknath Shinde-BJP government came to power in July last year.

"The reputation of the Maharashtra Police was tarnished by some people of late. Work should be done to restore that reputation," he added.

Notably, then state home minister Anil Deshmukh of NCP had faced allegations of ordering Mumbai Police to collect money every month from bars and hotels, following which CBI registered a case.

Deshmukh, currently out on bail, had denied the allegations raised by former Mumbai police commissioner Pram Bir Singh.

Fadnavis said the police department faced challenges such as communal and religious tensions. "I have directed everyone to bring these tensions down," he added.

On the occasion, he launched Maharashtra Emergency Response Team (MERS). Under MERS, after dialling the dedicated number 112, callers can reach the Maharashtra police using social media platforms.

"The integration of social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp), email, web portal, and citizen mobile app will help citizens to reach out to the police even faster and help curb crime with immediate action and minimum response time," Fadnavis added.