Bengaluru, Aug 4 (PTI) The Karnataka government has ordered the formation of an Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) to enhance its efforts against drug-related crimes in the state.
According to an official order issued on August 1, the newly established ANTF unit will function under the overall supervision of the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP) and the team will report to the Additional Director General of Police, Cyber Command.
The unit will have 10 newly created posts, which includes two Additional Superintendents of Police, two Assistant Commissioners of Police to supervise cases related to narcotics. Additionally, 56 posts from the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) will be reallocated to the Anti-Narcotic Task Force, including two police inspectors and four police sub-inspectors.
The unit will also engage experts on an outsourced basis, including forensic and legal experts, and data analysts.
The order also stated that the government has already set up a Cyber Crime Prevention Unit in Karnataka and renamed 43 Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police stations in the state as cyber crime police stations. These police stations have been directed to register cases under the Information Technology (IT) Act and the BNS sections related to computer-related and cyber crimes.
It can no longer have the authority to register narcotics and economic offence cases, it noted.
The ANTF is being set up with an estimated recurring annual expenditure of approximately Rs 2.77 crore for the newly sanctioned roles.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the ANTF, formed to eradicate drug menace in the state will function like a task force.
“They act based on wherever the information comes from. We have already given specific instructions to every Superintendent of Police,” he told reporters here.
He said that to make it even stronger, personnel from ANF have been transferred to ANTF.
“We have declared that there are no more Naxals in Karnataka. In that context, there was a discussion on disbanding the ANF. However, we decided to retain it and reduce the number of personnel. About 200 to 250 personnel were taken from ANF to the Special Action Force. We had taken them for Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. Now, since there was a staff shortage in Bengaluru, a few were taken from ANF. If there is a need again, we will redeploy personnel,” he added. PTI AMP ROH
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