"Assam Is No 1 In Implementation Of New Criminal Laws": State Top Cop Harmeet Singh

From an insurgency-orientated force, the Assam police has gone to a citizen-centric delivery mechanism force, Director General of Police Harmeet Singh told NDTV on Sunday, adding that the state force is number 1 in implementation of the new criminal laws that were introduced two years ago.

The new laws -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- came into effect on July 1, 2024, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Indian Evidence Act.

"I don't know if you're aware that since the Nyaya Sanhita has been implemented in the country, Assam has been running number one in its implementation, and we are at 78.13% at number one in the implementation while the national average is only 53.69%. So our transformation has been not only professionalism but also a change in mindset," the top cop told Padmaja Joshi at NDTV's Assam The Great Brahmaputra Dialogue conclave.

The top officer stressed that one of the major things that they have tried to introduce in policing is "empathy".

He further highlighted that there has been a huge investment in police infrastructure.

"There has been a huge, huge movement to provide Assam Police infrastructure which this government has done and I myself was, to use a word that you people use on screen, zapped when I made the boys put together the statistics. Since this government came, they have put in projects worth Rs 3,910 crore for the police, which is unheard of. Along with that, Rs 2,000 crore is still in the pipeline which we hope to see in the next few years," he said.

The officer narrated how a person who once came to register and FIR compared the police station to an OYO hotel, hinting at the facilities provided at the station.

"I said, yeah, we have a reception, we have a waiting area. We have a children's area. For all children that come to the police station, we actually now have children's corners. We have separate places for ladies who come to the police station. So, when you have police stations like that, when you provide housing, when you provide technology, when you provide the right kind of equipment, naturally policing and of course, without the government behind you, you can't do any of this," he said.

"We've got enough that come and spend the night there before they go to court the next morning," he said, jokingly.