At the Law & Order Review meeting of the state at the police headquarters (PHQ), Rajashtan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot claimed on Friday that the state ranked first in the country in terms of ‘Response Time’ against crimes that includes investigation and conviction rate.

Almost all criminals are caught by the police after criminal investigation and are punished in a minimum time as the state government was making every possible effort and innovation to keep the law and order strong and to deal with the challenges the police faced, Gehlot told the high-level meeting with senior police offficials led by DGP Umesh Mishra.

The chief minister said the responsibility of maintaining law and order and providing justice to the victims rest on the shoulders of the police. Even a strict action like dismissal of police officers and employees was also being taken against those who are soft on criminals, he added.

Under Mission-2030, a roadmap for the Police Department will be prepared soon, Gehlot assured.

During his visit to the PHQ, the chief minister flagged off 100 First Response Vehicles.

“Strictest action would be taken against anti-social elements who spread communal tension. Our priority is that criminals should not get a chance to commit such crimes. Police will have to implement the innovations made by the state government with commitment to fulfill the motto ‘trust in common, fear in criminals”, the CM said.

He said by December, more than 3000 CCTV cameras will be installed in the entire state under Abhay Command to ensure intensive monitoring against crime and criminals.

The CM was apprised that the average time taken for research is continuously decreasing. The average investigation time in rape cases has come down from 208 days in 2017 to 59 days now. In SC-ST cases, it has come down from 128 days in the year 2019 to 65 days now. Rajasthan is the leading state in the country with a conviction rate of 45.2 percent in women atrocities cases.

The national average of conviction rate is only 26.5 per cent. 13 people have been given death sentences in POCSO cases. Operation Garima is being conducted to stop the incidents of molestation with women by miscreants. In case of challan against those who commit such unwanted acts, it will be mentioned in their character verification.

The meeting was attended among others by Minister of State for Home Rajendra Singh Yadav, Chief SecretaryUsha Sharma, Director General of Police Umesh Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary Finance Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary Home Anand Kumar, DG Law-and Order Rajeev Kumar Sharma, DG Training Janga Srinivasa Rao, DG Crime Ravi Prakash Mehra, ADG Crime Dinesh MN, ADG Law-and-Order Anand Srivastava, ADG SOG-ATS Ashok Rathod, ADG Civil Rights Smita Srivastava, ADG Intelligence Mr. S. Sengthir.