Terming religious conversion a “serious challenge”, the chief minister said that incidents like Balrampur indicate that such “activities are being carried out in an organised manner”. A few months ago, the UP Police had arrested a cleric from Balrampur for allegedly running a religious conversion racket and getting funds from other countries.
Certain anti-social elements are misusing the names of eminent personalities to form new organisations and spread unrest, the CM noted. He directed the police to “conduct thorough background checks of such organisations, dismantle their networks and ensure strict legal action’.
He instructed strict action against organised gangs involved in cow smuggling stating that “merely making prompt arrests in cases of cow smuggling is not sufficient. Instead, the entire network and its masterminds should be identified and proceeded against with the strictest action. This would send a strong message against such organised crimes and ensure effective control over cow smuggling and related offences,” he said.
The CM instructed the police and intelligence agencies to maintain continuous surveillance over activities related to religious conversion, further strengthen intelligence through social media monitoring, and prevent such incidents at the initial stage itself.
Yogi directed that border security and counter-terrorism mechanisms be technologically strengthened to effectively curb the rise in terrorist activities and narcotics trafficking originating from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Analysing the emerging dimensions of terrorist activities arising from international borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, the CM emphasised further strengthening border surveillance.
He appreciated the stringent action taken by the police against terrorism, narcotics trafficking and organised crime and asserted these efforts need to be made even more effective. He directed stronger inter-departmental coordination and real-time information sharing among security agencies to ensure prompt action and to break the morale of criminal networks.
Expressing concern over the misuse of social media, misinformation, deepfakes, dark web activities, cybercrime and terrorist networks, Yogi directed the police and intelligence agencies to take immediate cognisance of any objectionable content affecting law and order or communal and social harmony, and ensure swift action. He made it clear that “no laxity would be tolerated towards elements attempting to divide society on the basis of caste or religion, exert pressure on the police, or create chaos”.
He instructed that fake accounts and organised disinformation campaigns be identified and dealt with strictly. He said that in the present scenario there is a need to make intelligence gathering, local inputs and technical surveillance even more active. To maintain peace, harmony and law and order in the state, he directed that every activity on social media be closely monitored.
The CM asked the IPS officers in field postings to respond patiently to the public representatives. He said, these representatives are a vital link in the democratic system and should be met at least once a month. No public representative supports wrongdoing, he added, and officers should share the ground reality with them and respond to their calls. Presentations on the concluding day of Police Manthan included Disaster Management, Civil Defence and Home Guards, Large Crowd Management, Intelligence and Emerging Challenges such as Social Media/NGOs and the Nepal Border, Anti-Terrorism, Narcotics, Cow Smuggling and Other Organised Crimes.
Curated by James Chen
