Chandigarh: Cyber crime, safety of women, children and weaker sections of society will be my top priority, said Prashant Kumar Agrawal, new Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana.

“Cyber crime has been a new challenge for the police. There has been a phenomenal increase in the use of smartphones and online banking over a period of time. To achieve their ulterior motives, fraudsters are adopting new technologies to commit crime. We will adopt and develop specialization to effectively tackle such crime,” he said after taking over the charge of DGP from Manoj Yadava, who has been repatriated to his parent organization – Intelligence Bureau (IB).

He said that the standard of investigation would be further enhanced to crack down on such criminals in the days to come,” he added during his interaction with media persons after assuming the charge. “Effective monitoring of crime, its prevention and detection, ensuring safety of women, children and weaker sections, and eradication of drug menace will be among his top priorities. I would also focus on improving police-public relationship,” he said.

In reply to a question, the DGP said that there is no place for corruption in the police functioning and it would not be tolerated at any cost. “If corruption is found anywhere, strict action will be taken against the guilty as per law,” he said.

Describing the Haryana Police as one of the best police forces in the country, he said that the state police have taken a lot of initiatives in the past, which were extremely laudable. “I would try my best to work according to the aspirations of the citizens of the state,” said Agrawal, an IPS officer of 1988 batch.

DGP, Crime, Mohammad Akil, Managing Director Haryana Police Housing Corporation Dr R.C. Mishra, DGP, Prisons, Shatrujeet Kapoor, ADGP, Modernization and Welfare, Alok Roy, ADGP, Administration, AS Chawla, ADGP, Law and Order, Navdeep Singh Virk, ADGP, Headquarters, Kala Ramachandran, CP Panchkula and other senior police officers were also present on the occasion.

A brilliant officer, Agrawal, who hails from Bihar, has served the people in different districts as ASP, Additional SP, SP, Range IGP and Commissioner of Police. Before being appointed as DGP Haryana, he also served as DGP, Crime, and Director General, State Vigilance Bureau.

A recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Services in 2004 and President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Services in 2015, he has also attended various seminars, conferences and training courses at the Bureau of Police Research and Development, New Delhi, NICFS, Intelligence Bureau, CBI, NCB, XLRI, Jamshedpur, including NCTP at NPA along with exposure of law enforcement agencies in the USA. /BI/