Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Police chief Prashant Kumar on Monday directed senior officials to enhance vigilance and intelligence gathering regarding attendees at various religious events in the state.
According to an official statement, a directive in this regard was issued to all police commissioners, additional directors general, regional inspectors general, deputy inspectors general, and district superintendents.
The move comes in response to reports from the Special Task Force indicating that criminals often used religious gatherings as cover to evade arrest after committing crimes, it said.
In several cases, hardened criminals have used such events to escape police action.
In light of this, Director General of Police Kumar has instructed that personnel should maintain strict vigilance on individuals travelling from different districts and states to attend religious events.
The STF findings suggested that some criminals took refuge at these gatherings to avoid detection.
The DGP noted that Sunil Kumar, a police inspector, was martyred during a recent encounter with a criminal in Shamli district. Investigations later revealed that the accused had used religious congregations to evade law enforcement.
District intelligence units and social media monitoring cells should be activated to track movements of individuals attending such programmes, he said.
Local police units must coordinate closely to identify any suspicious persons, he added.
Authorities should liaise with event organisers to collect detailed records of attendees, ensuring that such information was available to law enforcement when needed, the DGP said.
A register of attendees should be made in which their details, including valid identification such as Aadhaar, according to the directive.
It mandates monthly inspections to verify the backgrounds of individuals, ensuring no criminal elements are exploiting these events for shelter.
Police officials have been instructed to enforce these measures strictly, ensuring that religious events are not misused by criminal elements while maintaining public safety and order.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.