CP seeks cooperation to tackle extortion

Commissioner of Police (CP)Dimapur, Kevithuto Sophie has appealed to the public and all stakeholders to cooperate with the police in order to tackle the menace of extortion.
Addressing a meeting of different stakeholders which he convened at his office here on Friday, to discuss various issues and the collective intervention, Sophie stressed sharing of information with the police with regard to any illegal activity.
He also requested all to report violation of Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act and cooperate with the police on issues like Iner Line Permit, Permanent Residence Certificate, etc.
Sophie stressed on the need for collective responsibility to solve social problems such as drug trafficking, extortion, illegal taxation, liquor adulteration and ILP issues. He, therefore, urged public leaders to provide timely information to the police department for timely action.
Participating in the meeting and sharing a short note on the ill-treatment faced by drug users, Prodigals Home director K. Ela lamented that drug users were treated like second class citizens. She asserted that just because a person was involved in substance abuse, did not mean that he should be treated like a criminal or harassed.
She said people should respect each other’s rights and called for working together hand-in-hand to find a solution to the problem, and not create another problem.
She also alleged that some police personnel’s main motive was to extort money or impose fines on the drug users, instead of providing them proper treatment.
Delivering a short speech on the rights of HIV-infected persons and sex workers, PFO, Dimapur, Annalamented that such persons were ill-treated by the society.
She urged the gathering to collectively strive to do away with the stigma, while appealing not to discriminate the HIV-infected persons. “We should find ways on how to solve the problem, instead of victimising the victim,” she stressed.
Dwelling on the rights of the accused or convicted people, panel lawyer, DLSA, Yambemo Ngullie spoke on the various rights of such persons, emphasising that a person could not be described as an accused unless proven guilty.
He reminded the gathering that instead of putting drug addicts in jails, they should be kept at rehab centresto help them overcome their addiction.
He appealed to the electronic media to blur the face of any accused or drug user to hide his identity as an individual, as per Supreme Court guidelines.
Ngullie stressed that instead of stigmatising the drug users, people should ask the State government to come up with adequate rehabilitation centres.
Representatives from several civil society organisations attended the meeting.