Pb trial courts to be linked to jails via video conferencing

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today issued instructions for the linking of all trial courts in the state with jails via video conferencing within three months.
The above decision was taken at a high-level meeting held by Badal here to review the functioning of police department.
The Rs 32 crore project, as approved by Punjab and Haryana High Court, would reduce the need for prisoners to be ferried to court just for the sake of having their remands extended.
An average of 4,000 police personnel are deployed daily to escort prisoners to and from the courts, Badal said, adding that the exercise was a sheer wastage of manpower.

Attending to another matter, Badal asked DGP Sumedh Singh to draw up a list of those officers who had completed a stay of five or more years in a particular district as long durations of posting often encouraged corruption.
Badal said that all SPs, DSPs and other officials whose names figured on that list would be be posted out of their respective districts within a month.

He, meanwhile, approved a separate cadre for NRI police stations, eight more of which are to be set up. There will also be seven police stations for women.
Badal gave his nod to a new structure under which NRI police stations would directly work under the command of the IG (NRI affairs) while one DSP would be in charge of four police stations. There is also to be a separate DIG for women's police stations.

Badal also okayed a new, automated traffic offence detection and challaning system under which all national and state highways would be covered by CCTV cameras and automatic speed detection guns.
The new traffic system would see data in real-time being fed into a central server with any vehicles crossing the speed limit to be automatically issued challan by the computer.
Badal also gave final touches to the concept of the '181' distress which he said was a novel initiative by the police force to provide 24X7 access to citizens.
He also gave his nod for the separation of investigative functions from police duties and said that the probe wing would work independently.

The investigative wing, to be headed in districts by an SP (detective), would not be given law and order maintenance duties. However, the supremacy of the Station House Officer would not be compromised, Badal stated.