ADGP stresses on rehabilitation of young criminals to cut crime rate in Punjab

SANGRUR: Taking a leaf out of the reformist stance adopted by the police in European nations, Punjab police have also conceptualised rehabilitation of offenders to bring down the crime rate in the state.
Additional director general of police (AGDP) Rohit Choudhary said a few youngsters were misled into criminal activates, but on realisation expressed desire to return to normal lives.“However, under the present system they are still considered criminals and are the first to be picked up in case a crime occurs in related areas. This needs to be changed by laying a roadmap for the police department,” said Choudhary. He said the police wanted to send out a “a very strong message” to the youths and also take preventive measures rather than resorting to sentencing and incarceration.
Accompanied by Patiala inspector general of police (IGP) A S Rai, deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Sukhchain Singh Gill and Sangrur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Choudhary met around 40 families of criminals in Sangrur to understand the circumstance under which their kin committed the crime.
A large number of parents, especially women, narrated their tales of woes to the senior police officials saying how families of the ones involved in criminal cases were ill-treated by the cops from time to time. The ADGP assured that the issues raised by them would be looked into. Later, he held a meeting with other senior police officials and gathered details about different cases related to law offenders and discussed measures to rehabilitate them.