In view of the upcoming Kanwad Mela the 13th Inter State and Inter Agency Coordination meeting was held at police headquarters on Monday. In the meeting the officers of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Force, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Railway Protection Force (RPF) and intelligence department took part.
Addressing the participants, the Director General (DG) Police Uttarakhand, MA Ganapathy said the objective of the meeting is to ensure peace, law and order during the Kanwad Mela with the mutual coordination of police forces of different states and agencies. He cautioned more alertness for Kanwad Mela this year in view of the prevailing security conditions in the country. The DG said that the sensitive spots should be identified on the Mela route and sufficient police force should be deployed with regular briefings.
In the meeting the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Garhwal range, Pushpak Jyoti and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Haridwar V K Krishna Kumar gave a detailed presentation on police arrangements, ban on Kanwadias carrying DJ and sticks, parking places and accidents that have occurred in last few years on Kanwad route. They informed that a huge surge in number of Kanwadias is being witnessed every year and the number reached to 3.4 crore last year, a quantum jump considering the fact that only 15- 20 lakh Kanwadias used to come till 1990. Suggestions like formation of WhatsApp group, joint patrolling on interstate barriers, vigil on messages circulating on social media and others were made by them.
The Additional Director General (ADG) Crime, law and order, Ram Singh Meena made a presentation on brutal crimes in Uttarakhand, interstate gangs, absconding criminals, wanted criminals having bounty on their heads and interstate coordination. He emphasised on sharing of information, exchange of dossiers of criminals and meetings of police station in-charges of neighbouring districts for smooth coordination between forces during the Mela. In the last stage of meeting sharing of information between central police forces and security agencies in the light of Sino Nepal border was discussed. Similarly ways to prevent inflow of fake currency and cross border smuggling on Tibet/ Nepal border were also discussed during the meeting.
The meeting was also attended by Inspector General (IG) law and order Deepam Seth, IG Intelligence P A Anshuman, I G Karnal (Haryana) Subhash Yadav, IG intelligence lucknow, UP R K Srivastava, IG SSB, Ranikhet, Shrawan Kumar and others.