18 Disha police stations set up in Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA/RAJAHMUNDRY: AP government on Saturday launched 18 special Disha police stations across the state for speedy investigation and trial of cases related to sexual offences against women. The state government recently amended rules to ensure that trial in rape cases are completed within 21 days and these police stations will help in fast completion of investigation.
The government also launched the Disha mobile application on Saturday. Chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy inaugurated the first Disha police station at Rajahmundry and launched the mobile app. Later, Disha police stations were opened at other towns in the state.
One Disha police station has been set up at every police district headquarters in the state. The police stations will be headed by a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer with two circle inspectors and three sub-inspector rank officers to handle investigation. There will be between 36 and 47 support staff to assist the investigators.
“Setting up of Disha police stations is a historic decision and first of its kind in the country. Incidents like Nirbhaya and Disha have moved the collective conscience of society. However, little was done to prevent such incidents in the first place. Disha Act and creation of infrastructure for its implementation will ensure not only justice to the victims but will also save women from ending up as victims,” Jagan said in Rajahmundry.
The CM added that Disha Act is in the concurrent list. “The state government has sent it for central government’s assent. The Act is being vetted by the Union ministry and will be notified in the state gazette soon. Once notified, the new legislation will come into force,” he said. Without waiting for the Act to come into force, the state government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore to create an ecosystem to implement the Act, he said.
Jagan added that apart from establishing special police stations, special courts will also be set up once the high court gives the green light. “These special courts will deal with cases booked under Disha Act exclusively and deliver justice in two weeks,” he said.
The chief minister, after launching the Disha app, tested it by pressing the SOS button. The process of initiating the call from the mobile device to receiving it at the Disha control room and deploying the teams to the location were demonstrated live. The Disha enforcement team reached the spot by tracing the coordinates of the call origin and reported to the chief minister. The CM appreciated the officers involved in designing of Disha app.
While city police commissioner Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao inaugurated the Disha police station in Vijayawada, Krishna district SP Ravindranath Babu launched the station at Machilipatnam. All district SPs and commissioners of police participated in the video conference held by the chief minister.