Golaghat (Assam) [India], September 3 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said maintaining law and order, improving conviction rates and strengthening the state police were among the key issues discussed during a two-day conference of senior police officers held in Dergaon.
Speaking about the conference, Sarma said the primary objective was to ensure that the law and order situation in Assam does not deteriorate under any circumstances.
"A two-day conference with Assam Superintendents of Police and other officers was organised. The main purpose of this conference was that law and order should be maintained in Assam. Law and order should not deteriorate under any circumstances," Sarma said.
He said the state police have also been directed to improve the conviction rate while working within the framework of the three new criminal laws.
Sarma said emphasis was placed on increasing the number of chargesheets and ensuring that chargesheets in criminal cases are filed within 60 to 90 days. "While being within the purview of the three new criminal laws, we have to increase the conviction rate, and increase the number of chargesheets, and chargesheets of all crimes have to be filed within 60-90 days," he said.
The Chief Minister said the government has also decided to strengthen the Assam Police by adding two more battalions.
A detailed discussion was also held on police housing, he said, highlighting the gap between the number of police personnel and available accommodation.
"There are about 91,000 police personnel in Assam. But there are only 10,000 housing units. We have to take it up to 30,000," Sarma said.
He further said the possibility of recruiting more than 5,000 youths into the police force next year was also discussed during the conference.
Meanwhile, Assam Leader of Opposition Wazed Ali Choudhury said the alliance between the Congress and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi had come to an end.
Choudhury alleged that Gogoi had made derogatory remarks against the Congress party and its leadership instead of raising his concerns within the alliance's forum.
"For the past few days, the Raijor Dal leader has been speaking against the Congress party and its leaders. He should have raised any concerns within the party forum. Instead, he went out and made derogatory remarks against the Congress and its leadership. Therefore, our alliance with him has come to an end. There is no other reason," Choudhury said.
He further alleged that Gogoi had failed to respect the principles of the alliance.
The developments come amid the Assam government's efforts to strengthen policing, improve criminal justice outcomes and expand the state's police infrastructure, while political differences within the opposition camp continue to surface.