Hyderabad, Oct 23: With cybercrime, drug trafficking and other offences increasingly demanding coordinated responses across state boundaries, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday called for stronger cooperation among police forces in southern India, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and proposed systems to improve interstate coordination and law enforcement.
Addressing the Southern Regional Police Coordination Committee (SRPCC) meeting at Hyderabad’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), Reddy stressed the need for police departments to work together as criminal activities and enforcement challenges evolve.
The meeting brought together senior police officials from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, alongside representatives from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Lakshadweep, and officials of Central agencies.
Reddy said regional police cooperation must extend beyond administrative boundaries and include specialised units responsible for addressing emerging threats. He offered to share Telangana’s technical infrastructure and command-and-control systems with neighbouring states to support coordinated policing.
Identifying cybercrime, narcotics trafficking and traffic management as major challenges, the Chief Minister called for greater technological integration, specialised training and continuous reforms in policing practices.
He said public safety depended on effective, ethical and impartial law enforcement, adding that expenditure on police infrastructure and personnel should be treated as an investment in public security.
Referring to administrative changes in Telangana, Reddy said Hyderabad’s police jurisdiction had been reorganised into three commissionerates to allow officers to concentrate on defined areas.
He also outlined the functions of specialised agencies, including EAGLE for drug enforcement, TG-SAFE for tackling food adulteration and pharmaceutical regulatory concerns, and HYDRAA for protecting water bodies and public assets.
Reddy claimed that Telangana had received national recognition for its cybercrime response and anti-Naxal operations. He cited a PRAGATI review chaired by the Prime Minister and recognition from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while also referring to the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau’s efforts to recover money lost to online fraud.
The Chief Minister further highlighted the appointment of transgender traffic assistants in Hyderabad and emphasised police personnel’s welfare and family security.
Senior officials attending included Telangana DGP C.V. Anand, Karnataka DGP M.A. Saleem, Tamil Nadu DGP Mahesh Aggarwal, Puducherry DGP Shalini Singh, Lakshadweep ADG B. Shankar Jaiswal, Kerala IG Ajitha Begum and Andhra Pradesh IGP Ravi Krishna. EAGLE Director Sandeep Shandilya and Telangana Cyber Security Bureau Director Shikha Goel also participated.
