Cops in Uttar Pradesh will soon be given sophisticated firearms and will also be given regular training to use these firearms.
“We are in the process of purchasing sniper rifles, g-lock pistols, 12 bore pump action guns, MP-5 submachine guns,” parliamentary affairs minister Mohammed Azam Khan said in the Assembly on Monday while replying to a question by BJP MLA Shyamdev Roychoudhury.
Mr Azam Khan said the police was already equipped with other modern firearms, including 7.62 SLR, 5.56 Insas rifles, AK-47, LMG, 7.62 machine guns, 7.62 mm LMG Insas, 9 mm revolver pistol and teargas guns.
The minister candidly admitted that routine practice in use of firearms was done only on paper in the past few years as a result of which cops in the state fared poorly in target practice. However, we are restarting practice and the problem will be sorted out,” he said.
To a supplementary question, Mr Khan said that against the sanctioned police strength of 2,04,021 in the state, recruitment of 35,844 have been completed while the process to fill the remaining posts was underway. He said that there was no ideal police-public ratio but the state government would increase the strength of the police force to ensure better policing.
BJP member Suresh Khanna demanded that the potbellied and unfit policemen should be given compulsory retirement to which the minister said that the government could only persuade them to shed flab but could not coerce them on this issue.
Mr Khan said crimes against children in UP were less than the national average. In 2008, UP was placed 19th position among states in the crime rate against children in the country while in 2009 it was on 23rd spot and in 2010 it moved further down to 27th place. Asked about the government’s policy on checking terrorism, the minister said that an anti-terrorist squad had already been set up in November 2007 which has all the responsibilities to check these acts.