Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday asked the police to take "tough" action against crimes against women and children, assuring them that he would "shield" officers even if they took "very tough" action.
Suvendu conveyed the message at a Raksha Bandhan programme at Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar on Thursday evening.
"I want to emphasise two things. We have to take tough action against crimes against women. There should not be RG Kar-like incidents (referring to the brutal rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee) or cases under Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act). There should be no compromise on the safety of our sisters, mothers and daughters. Even if you take very tough action, I, as the chief minister and police minister, will shield you," he said.
The chief minister also urged people not to come under anyone's influence or pressure on matters concerning "anti-national activities".
"Please respect the national emblem and nurture patriotism. Do not come under the influence or pressure of anyone," he said.
Suvendu stressed the need to improve the police response time to calls made to the national emergency helpline 112. He said the response time was six minutes in Uttar Pradesh but three hours in Bengal.
"Kolkata Police's response time is better than Bengal Police's because of better infrastructure and more manpower. The two cannot be compared. But to improve the response time of the Bengal Police, we will introduce one vehicle in each of the 512 police stations across the state. Eventually, more vehicles will be added," he said.
The chief minister said the 512 vehicles would be launched on Mahalaya.
He also asked the police to focus on preventing and detecting cybercrime.