To crack the whip on organised crime,  the Yogi Adityanath government has decided to bring  a law to nail the criminals involved in such activities. The state cabinet on Wednesday gave the nod to the ‘Uttar Pradesh Organised Crime Bill, 2017’, which aims  to curb the activities of  the organized crime syndicates operating in the state.

The Bill is likely to  be tabled and passed in the forthcoming winter  session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly beginning on Thursday. The Bill is said to be on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

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Wednesday’s cabinet meeting was presided over by Chief  Minister Yogi Adityanath.

An official spokesman  told press persons that all the cases under the proposed legislation will be registered after the approval of a two member committee comprising of the divisional commissioner and the range DIG. An important provision pertains to the confiscation and attachment of properties acquired through ill-gotten money and dubious means. It has been proposed in the Bill that the properties acquired by the members of  the organized crime syndicates would be acquired  by the state government after seeking the court’s permission

The spokesman said the move would deter the criminals from reeking benefits from the illegally acquired properties. The provision of acquiring such properties following the conviction of the criminals by the law courts has been made in the Bill, the spokesman said. Special courts would be constituted for hearing the cases registered under the legislation.

A state level ‘Organised Crime Control Authority’  headed by the Principal  Secretary (Home ) would be set up for keeping a tab and to keep control over the activities of the criminals and the gangs involved in organize crime in the  state. There is also a provision to constitute the organize crime control authority at the district level. These district level authorities will be headed by the district magistrates.

A provision regarding the setting up of a ‘appellate authority’ headed by a retired judge of the High Court has been incorporated in the Bill.

The state government’s  move to bring a law to control organized crime is in tune with chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s zero tolerance policy towards crime and criminals.

Crime control is the government’s top priority and in this context the police and the law  enforcing agencies have been given a free hand to curb the menace. Several criminals have been liquidated, or have been arrested in  the last eight months since the Yogi Adityanath government came to power.