Assam Police deserves a huge salute

The history of Assam Police dates back to around 1826, when, immediately after Assam was annexed to British India, three police stations were established – one each at Guwahati, Rangpur (Sivasagar) and Jorhat. The Dibrugarh and Jaipur police stations followed suit. Each of these police stations was manned by a daroga, one jamadar and a few constables. Since then, it has been almost 200 years that Assam Police has travelled a long colourful journey, one that reaches its greatest achievement, it being the President's Colours, which is being presented on Tuesday in Guwahati. Presentation of President's Colours to the police force is said to be a once-in-its-lifetime event, and the Assam Police, which has a proud legacy of also taking part in the Second World War – a rare experience for the police force in India – definitely has reasons to cheer. At this crucial juncture, Assam Police has also very proudly announced that the overall crime rate in the state has significantly decreased and the case disposal rate increased in the immediate past twelve months. This significant achievement, which has been announced a couple of days before the presentation of President's Colours, also coincides with the completion of the first year in office of Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma and his BJP-AGP-UPPL government. As has been officially stated, the average crime rate per 100,000 population, which was 384 from May 2020 to April 2021, has come down to 222 between May 2021 and April 2022. Likewise, the average monthly registration of cases, which was around 11,103 during the previous year, has significantly come down to 6,247 in the last twelve months. Disposal of cases on the other hand has increased; from 24,159 in the first quarter of 2021 to 28,400 in the first quarter of 2022. Giving an account of its achievement on the eve of the presentation of President's Colours, officials of the Assam Police have also stated that since May last year altogether 2,834 cases have been registered under NDPS Act, while more than 4,838 drug traffickers have been arrested and drugs worth more than Rs 548.53 crore seized. During the last eleven months, Assam Police also registered 141 cases of human trafficking, arrested more than 104 human traffickers and rescued around 250 persons. In the same period, 163 cases of smuggling of betel nut from Myanmar were registered, 182 persons arrested and 146 vehicles seized. Hats off, Assam Police!