The bosses of the police of five eastern States on Tuesday held a marathon virtual meeting to discuss outstanding security issues and emerging challenges before the police.

The meeting held under the umbrella of the Eastern Regional Police Coordination Committee (ERPCC) was attended by DGP of Jharkhand Niraj Kumar Sinha along with his Bihar counterpart Sanjay Kumar Singhal, the DGP of  Chhatisgarh DM Awasthi, West Bengal DGP Virendra and DGP of Odisha police Abhay attended the meeting. This was the seventh meeting of  ERPCC.

Besides other senior police officials of these states heading anti-naxal operations, crime investigation and intelligence  also attended the meeting. The senior officials of CRPF and Intelligence Bureau were also invited to the meeting. The DGP of Odisha chaired the meeting.

The officials discussed issues like anti-naxal operation, cybercrime, drug smuggling, organised crime involved in extortion human trafficking, internal security matters, racket of the fake Indian currency notes, interstate cooperation, capacity building among others were discussed.

On the issue of anti-naxal operations, top cops discussed the position of security forces in the rebel areas besides the new hotspots of naxal activities. It was unanimously decided that more joint operations are required to stop rebels from strengthening their base.

Regarding interstate organized crime involving extortion and others; it was mutually agreed that states will share a list of wanted criminals and intelligence inputs therein with each other.     

About drug smuggling and opium cultivation Jharkhand DGP said that national highways 2 and 23 passing through Jharkhand are the main transit route for drug smuggling. He said that Jharkhand needs cooperation from neighbouring states to track smugglers and paddlers.

Similarly, about the human trafficking Jharkhand shared its concern as districts like Gumla, Simdega and Khunti have been reporting large number of cases of trafficking and all these districts share border with other States.

Jharkhand DGP said that states should share details of human traffickers active on both sides of the border so that action could be taken effectively. 

It was decided that regular joint meetings of officials of SP rank and officer in-charge of police stations of five states must take place for better coordination. SPs and officer in-charges of bordering districts and police stations of these states must hold regular meetings.