New Mumbai police chief says tackling terrorism will be a priority

Mumbai, June 14 (ANI): New Mumbai Police Commissioner D.Sivanandan on Sunday said that tackling terrorism, protecting citizens' rights and reaching out to the youth in the city would be his top priorities.

"There are terror strikes in Mumbai and other parts of the country which have been found to have links with this city due to which we constantly have to remain alert," Sivanandan told reporters here soon after taking charge.

Sivanandan, who was earlier the state Intelligence Department chief and in the Intelligence Bureau, said the police force would be working to improve its intelligence network and integrate them with various other agencies in the state and country.

"We will take action to strengthen our intelligence network," he said.

A 1976 batch IPS officer, Sivanandan promised transparent administration procedures in the working of Mumbai police and said it was important for the force to act as one unit without any separate groups within it.

He said he would also work towards understanding the health and other problems faced by the approximately 40,000 personnel of the police force and creating solutions.

A major priority will be providing security to women, senior citizens and other minority communities in the city to restore their confidence in the police, he said. (ANI)