ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Wednesday that cybercrime is an emerging field of crime, which is beginning to take dangerous proportions, especially in a tribal state like Arunachal.
The Chief Minister said that as the Arunachalee society consists of several distinct and different tribes, any misuse of social media platforms may flare up trivial issues beyond control.
"Itanagar is ranked as one of the highest data consuming cities in the country, " Khandu said while addressing the half-yearly conference of Superintendents of Police and Commandants of various other forces, and suggested that the cyber cell should keep constant vigil and act before it is too late.
Around 69 per cent of Arunachal Pradesh's total population of 13.84 lakh are tribals.
The Chief Minister told the police officials that drug menace is also a serious issue and it can completely destroy a generation.
"We as elders and guardians of the society need to do everything to save our future, " he said.
Khandu, who has been pushing community-based organisations and religious institutions to create awareness among their members, said that due to the social nature of the drugs menace, addicted people need to be handled with care, but one should go hard against the traffickers.
"Parents of today's youth are still farmers. They toil day and night and send their wards for education. After completing education, few lucky ones get employed but several struggle to get a hold on life. These vulnerable groups of youth fall into bad company and get addicted. They do not fit in a rural set-up nor can they survive in cities, " the Chief Minister said.
He advised the district police chiefs to keep track of the drug addicts in their respective districts and by keeping their identity secret, provide proper counselling.
Referring to the existence of 36 non-functional police stations in the state due to lack of manpower, Khandu said that he would personally follow up with the cabinet decision of creating 1, 000 police posts.
He also took upon himself to follow up his earlier announcement of Rs 100 crore for the development of infrastructure for police personnel serving across the state.
The conference, which was held at the state police headquarters in Itanagar, was also attended by Home Minister Bamang Felix and Advisor (Home) Nyamar Karbak.