Focus on people friendly policing: New Odisha police chief

Bhubaneswar, July 6 (IANS) Prakash Mishra, who took charge as Odisha's new Director General of Police Friday, said that people-friendly policing would be his focus area.

"Besides, I will also put emphasis on the grievances redressal mechanism," he told reporters.

Describing the Maoist problem as one of the main challenges before the police, he said efforts will be on to bring the rebels back to the main stream.

Mishra said the local cadres were unhappy with ultras hailing from other states and efforts would be made to segregate the local cadres from them and see that they surrender and take benefit of the government's rehabilitation policy.

The 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who has served in Odisha for several years, was director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in New Delhi before taking over as head of the state police force.

The 56-year-old Indian Police Service officer was the chief of Odisha's intelligence wing July 2009-June 2010 and the director general of Home Guards and fire services department July-December, 2010.