Southern States should strengthen intelligence-sharing, operational coordination: Telangana CM

Calling for a united front against criminal networks operating across State borders, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday (October 23, 2026) urged southern States to strengthen intelligence-sharing and operational coordination, stressing that no State could effectively combat crime in isolation.

Inaugurating the Southern States’ Police Coordination Committee meeting at the Telangana Integrated Command and Control Centre (TGICCC) in Hyderabad, the Chief Minister offered to share Telangana’s technological infrastructure and policing practices with neighbouring States to tackle cybercrime, narcotics trafficking and organised crime.

The meeting brought together senior police officials from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, besides representatives from the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Lakshadweep, and central investigating and security agencies.

“It is your responsibility to make South India safer and bring crime to the lowest possible levels by developing strong mechanisms for cross-border coordination between police headquarters,” the Chief Minister said at the gathering.

He urged the participating police chiefs to formulate a comprehensive action plan to improve coordination between police headquarters, emphasising that emerging challenges such as cybercrime, narcotics and traffic management required specialised training, technology and cooperation.

Telangana’s fight against cybercrime, narcotics

Highlighting Telangana’s policing reforms, the Chief Minister said the State had secured the top position in tackling cybercrime during the Prime Minister’s PRAGATI review, while the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) had scored over 80% in the Union government’s assessment of anti-narcotics efforts.

He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had congratulated Telangana police officers for making the State completely free of Naxal violence. The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau had also established new standards in recovering money lost by victims of cyber fraud.

The Chief Minister highlighted the establishment of specialised agencies, including EAGLE, HYDRAA and TG-SAFE, to address emerging challenges. While HYDRAA protected and rejuvenated lakes and other water bodies besides safeguarding public properties, TG-SAFE was established on the lines of the United States Food and Drug Administration to strengthen food and drug regulation.

He also referred to the recruitment of transgender persons as Traffic Assistants in Hyderabad, describing it as a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, and highlighted the administrative benefits of dividing policing responsibilities among the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates.

On police welfare, he said the government had established the Young India Police School to provide quality education to children of police personnel — from Home Guards to the Director General of Police — with standards comparable to leading Sainik Schools.

The government had also enhanced ex-gratia compensation for police personnel killed in the line of duty to between ₹1 crore and ₹2 crore, depending on rank, besides providing housing plots to bereaved families and compassionate appointments to eligible family members.

Maintaining that efficient, ethical and impartial policing was the first expectation of citizens, the Chief Minister said resources allocated to police modernisation and welfare should be viewed as an investment in public safety rather than expenditure.

Cyber fraud losses dwarf conventional crimes: Telangana DGP

Telangana Director General of Police C. V. Anand highlighted the changing nature of crime, particularly the enormous financial losses caused by cyber fraud.

“What is lost in dacoities and robberies is a very, very small percentage of what is lost in cybercrime,” he said, pointing out that fraudsters could siphon off crores of rupees within minutes.

He said the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau had topped nine performance parameters reviewed during the previoous two Prime Minister’s PRAGATI meetings. The bureau had acted upon 88% of grievances, facilitated the removal of 89% of flagged online content and completed 96.7% of requests received from other States through the Samanvaya portal. It had also facilitated the restoration of ₹16.42 crore to cyber fraud victims.

Telangana’s history of specialised policing

Tracing Telangana’s history of specialised policing, Mr. Anand said Greyhounds and the Special Intelligence Branch were established to combat left-wing extremism, followed by OCTOPUS to counter terrorism. More recently, EAGLE and the Cyber Security Bureau were established to tackle narcotics trafficking and cybercrime respectively.

With no armed Maoist militants currently operating in Telangana, more than 1,200 personnel from specialised forces were redeployed to emerging areas, including traffic management, road safety, food safety and enforcement.

He also highlighted the newly established Telangana Traffic Management and Road Safety Bureau, which would receive 40% of traffic fine collections and have a sanctioned strength of nearly 1,000 personnel. Another initiative, T-SPARK, would focus on artificial intelligence, technology-based policing and the integration of national crime databases.

Karnataka’s Mane Manege Police initiative

Karnataka DGP M. A. Saleem highlighted the Mane Manege Police initiative, under which police personnel visited households to collect demographic information and establish direct communication with residents.

The exercise helped identify nearly 55,000 households where elderly persons were living alone, who were subsequently brought under a special protection programme involving regular visits by beat constables.

He also outlined Bengaluru’s technology-driven traffic management initiatives, including the ASTra platform for predicting congestion, the E-Path system for faster ambulance movement and a Mobility Digital Twin initiative to simulate the impact of infrastructure projects on traffic.

Tamil Nadu’s specialised force for women and children’s safety

Tamil Nadu DGP Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal highlighted a specialised force for women and children’s safety, launched in June 2026, with 2,546 sanctioned posts and plans for 270 units across the State.

In five months, the force had conducted 41,915 awareness programmes, traced 49 missing women and 87 missing children, prevented 41 child marriages and helped 453 school dropouts return to education.

He also outlined the establishment of an Anti-Narcotics Task Force with 2,079 personnel across 65 units and a sanctioned budget of ₹264 crore. The Tamil Nadu DGP said the State had increased monthly contingency funds for police stations to improve operational efficiency and reduce opportunities for corruption, while also introducing initiatives for the rehabilitation of destitute persons and mental health support for police personnel.