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This is an archive article published on March 5, 2017
We want to use law as our weapon… but jail is not always a deterrent: Kerala DGP
Interview with Kerala DGP Loknath Behera.
Kerala DGP Loknath Behera.
The molestation case of the Kerala actress has once again turned the spotlight back on quotation gangs. Why hasn’t the police been able to check this phenomenon?
In Kerala, you don’t have the problem of what you call ‘quotation killings’. Of course, there are a few. Here, the problem is about anti-social elements. We will not allow Kerala to go the way of some North Indian states, where supari killings are routine. In the past, police committed a mistake by not probing every case involving such attacks. For example, an assault case has been pending against a person who was recently killed in Alappuzha (Jishnu Gopalakrishnan, a local DYFI leader). Police did not take proper action on the complaint (against Jishnu when it was filed two years ago). Hence, the rival side opted for revenge and he was killed. Henceforth, police will probe every such complaint.
How effective is the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act?
If used properly, the Act is very effective. Police are going in for preventive custody of anti-social elements. (But) I have asked all district police chiefs to be very cautious while using the Act. Third-degree measures cannot be used against such elements… We want to use the law as our weapon. As per the Act, goons will be arrested and lodged in jail for six months. Since district collectors are also involved in invoking the Act (they issue arrest warrants), not everything is in our hands… We have a policy decision to not use the Act against those involved in political attacks.
One of the criticisms against the Act is that those jailed are back in action after six months.
That is a problem. Imprisonment is not always a deterrent in the case of hardened criminals. Many these criminals come from deprived backgrounds and they get so we have decided to train them in various skills during their jail term, so that they find jobs or do something useful once the detention period is over.
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