Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday gave clear-cut instructions to the state police to initiate “ruthless action” against provocative posts on social media in the state.

Chairing the meeting of top police officers at Vidhana Soudha, he underlined that they should be more careful about maintaining peace and co-existence in the society. “Ruthless action must be initiated against those who disturb the peace and co-existence in the society. The police must also prevent the menace of drugs,” Siddaramaiah reiterated.

He also asked the police to look into finding solutions to traffic problems in Bengaluru and reining cyber crimes in the state.

“The people have elected the government for a change with hope and the officers must respond to the problems of the people,” he said.

Siddaramaiah asked senior officers to visit the police stations and conduct inspections. The people who come to lodge complaints should not be treated as accused persons and police officers should behave cordially with them. Their woes would be addressed, he said.

“Our government will not tolerate goondagiri, unofficial club activities and drug mafia in the state. If these are encouraged, strict action would be initiated against the officers. We will compliment good workers and if there is dereliction of duty, we will initiate action without any hesitation,” he warned.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, cabinet ministers K.J. George, K.H. Muniyappa, B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan, M.B. Patil, and Satish Jarkiholi were also present.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)