Punishment for attack on cops to be enhanced: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today claimed that crime rate in the state was declining, and said the law will be amended to enhance the punishment for assault on police personnel.
Recently several incidents of miscreants attacking the police were reported in Mumbai and elsewhere. In a case in Mumbai, a traffic constable died after being hit by two youths.
Winding up a marathon debate on law and order situation in the state in the Legislative Council, Fadnavis said the law would be amended whereby assault on police personnel will attract five years in jail instead of the current two years.

Claiming overall improvement in the law and order situation, Fadnavis quoted National Crime Records Bureau data. Crime against minors had shown a decline of 32 percent and gang rape cases had decreased by 44 percent, he said.
Admitting to rise in cyber crime, the CM said the government had opened 27 cyber labs across the state to tackle these crimes.
The government will now be able to delete objectionable material including text and photographs from a web site forthwith, which was not possible previously, and this will act as a check on the social media, he said.
The government had taken steps to improve the living conditions of the police personnel, he said. As many as 48,029 houses are available for the police in the state against the requirement of 99,971 units, and some 51,000 houses would be added in the near future, he assured.

Fadnavis was all praise for 'Muskan' scheme for tracing the missing persons. About 10,000 persons were traced and reunited with their families under the scheme, he said.