‘No communal riot case in Uttar Pradesh for past two years’

For a state police chief who was once blooded in the badlands of western Uttar Pradesh, 59-year-old OP Singh is totally opposed to the idea of medieval instant justice and is a stickler for discipline. DGP Singh, who singlehandedly commands the largest police force in the world, talks to Shishir Gupta in Lucknow. Edited excerpts:

How is your law-and-order situation now in comparison to the past years?

When I took over two years ago, I found that there was a systematic destruction of police institutions in the past decade. Maintenance of law and order had gone haywire, criminal activities were on the rise...we took stock of the situation and decided to mount a very aggressive posture towards criminals and gangs. We put the fear of law into the hearts of criminals in each district by not only raiding their houses but also

engaging them upfront.

So, do numbers show that crime in the heinous category has gone down?

Yes, yes. It is has certainly gone down. If you look at the statistics, you will see a decline of 25% in dacoity; in robbery there is a decline of 30% in the loot category; and in murders, there is a decline of 12%. Secondly, we have been successful in conducting religious processions in peace — be it Eid, Eid-ul-azha, Dussehra and Muharram.

Crime figures are down as per statistics, but your force has shown negative aggression of late. Have you been able to control indiscipline and corruption?

In fact, transforming the behaviour of policemen is a big challenge, particularly when the force is 300,000strong... I am sorry to say incidents do happen that dent the image of the police... I have made it very clear to my force that if the policemen are going to be rewarded for good work, their delinquency and unprofessional conduct will also be punished.

Do you have any numbers to say that you have punished police officials for unprofessional conduct?

I have punished not less than 400 officers and men. They were dismissed from service after due process of law.

How has been your action on crime against women...?

We have taken very strong measures. First, we have created anti-romeo squads, which are still functioning and very effectively too...we have also gone into visible effective policing by identifying hotspots in context of eveteasing and molestation in both rural and urban areas. We are also going for safe city projects in future. Strength of UP 100 vehicles have been increased; their routes have been re-designated with these officers being trained as first responders.

Fake news at times leads to communal violence, arson and mayhem. Do you make social media platforms accountable?

In some cases, we have taken action by registering a case and informed the platform on whose server the fake news is distributed. We have also arrested persons propagating fake news. We verify videos posted on social media through non-political digital volunteers, 250 of whom have access to each police station. We have appointed coordinators in foreign countries too.

UP was known for communal riots. Have you been able to control it?

Absolutely. For the last two years, there has been not even a single case of communal riot.

Between 2005 and 2010, the state witnessed terror attacks with significant casualties. There was also radicalisation of the youth. How have you been able to control terror and religious radicalisation in the state?

Yes. The state was affected by terror activities from 2005 to 2010, and maybe as late as 2016, when we killed a terrorist in an encounter. We have contained terror due to strong police emphasis on this aspect through actionable intelligence as well as support of central agencies. In the past 18 months, we have had good catches too.