West Bengal, Jharkhand police to get rid of border jurisdiction

MIDNAPORE(WEST BENGAL): West Bengal and Jharkhand police have decided to get rid of the barrier of jurisdiction in adjoining Maoist-hit areas to take faster action against the Naxalites.

In the Maoist affected belt of six districts including three of Kolhan range of Jharkhand and three districts of West Bengal, policemen can now move freely into each other's territory, West Midnapore Superintendent of Police R Rajsekharan, who attended the meeting said on Friday.

After launching an attack in one state, Maoist ultras usually flee to another through the forest covered border and the police fail to chase them due to the jurisdiction barrier.

But now, if a police station of West Bengal has some information on a Maoist activity, it could directly tip-off the respective police station in Jharkhand instead of informing Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Rajsekharan said.

The existing rule was that only a DIG level officer could pass on such information to another DIG level officer. But, by the time the information reaches from a police station to the DIG's office of one state and from the DIG's office to the police station concerned in the other, precious time gets lost and the ultras escape easily, police sources said.

The new system would reduce the time gap significantly, the sources said after the joint meeting of the DIG of Kolhan range of Jharkhand and his Midnapore range counterpart in West Bengal at Kharagpur in West Midnapore district on Friday.

Besides the DIGs, all superintendents of police, circle inspectors and officers-in-charge of the nine districts attended the meeting.

Times of India