New J&K DGP assumes office, says law and order top priority

Srinagar, Jun 2: Senior

K Rajendra Kumar on Monday took over as new Director General of

and said maintenance of law and order was the prime duty of the force.

"Police-public cooperation at the grass-root level is imperative to achieve our goal and effective measures will be taken to strengthen our relations with the common people," he said.

Presiding over a meeting of senior officers here after assuming the charge, Kumar said maintenance of law and order was the prime duty of the force to ensure congenial atmosphere for all developmental activities in the state.

He said police personnel, while performing duties in hostile conditions, should ensure at all costs that innocent people were not made to suffer any inconvenience.

The DGP, a 1984-batch IPS officer hailing from Andhra Pradesh, said the force should respect human rights of the people and ensure zero tolerance towards violation of human rights.

He said his focus would be to strengthen professional policing and provide better service to public. The DGP asked his officers to ensure that the upcoming Amarnath pilgrimage passes off peacefully.

Kumar replaced Ashok Prasad who had been appointed Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

Kumar's appointment was cleared by the state government last month at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Prior to his new assignment, Kumar served as interim DGP of the state for a short duration in 2012 after the retirement of Kuldeep Khoda who now heads the State Vigilance Commission.

PTI