Trade will flourish if crime is curbed: Deshmukh

Nagpur: The State home minister Anil Deshmukh said on Friday a ‘crime-free’ Nagpur would be an ideal destination for investment, economic growth and expansion. Earlier, he had vowed to take action against all goons and had asked citizens to report their names.
Deshmukh, who spoke to TOI from Mumbai, also said he was contemplating stretching the scheme of collecting information about goons and anti-social elements to other places in the district and if successful may launch similar action across the state in the coming days.
“I have already taken review meeting of the rural and district police twice in the past. I am planning to summon the officers from the rural police for a fresh review and then we may think about appealing to the residents from rural areas to share information regarding local goons against whom we may initiate stringent actions,” he said.
“Once the law and order situation improves, it would definitely lead to more economic growth,” said the home minister, adding if goonda elements are behind bars trade and investment will flourish. Deshmukh had expressed his satisfaction over the efforts of the CP BK Upadhyay who had brought down the crime rate by 28% in the current year.
Apart from the dwindling crime rate, city police have also initiated 3,421 preventive actions this year. Taking the efforts a notch higher, Deshmukh became the first home minister to seek direct information from citizens regarding the anti-social elements who are yet to be brought under police surveillance.