Anti-human trafficking clubs launched in State

Greatest challenge faced by the State police was Left extremist activity: Chennithala

Ramesh Chennithala says the government is trying to address the basic issues behind the growth of Left extremism

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said here on Saturday that the greatest challenge faced by the State police was Left extremist activity.

Presiding over the launch of Anti-human trafficking clubs being jointly set up by the Kerala Legal Services Authority (KELSA) and the police, he said that the government was trying to address the basic issues behind the growth of Left extremism before using guns against such extremists. He said the government was also making the people aware of the illegal activities Maoist groups so that the menace could be tackled effectively.

Solved: 92 p.c. of missing persons' cases

Mr. Chennithala said the police were able to solve 92 per cent of the cases relating to missing persons. The police had failed to trace out persons only in seven per cent of the missing cases.

It was very alarming that women were reported missing in large numbers. Child trafficking was another challenge faced by the police. He said that human trafficking was taking place because of three reasons – poverty, unemployment, and ignorance of law. Inaugurating the launch of the Anti-human trafficking clubs, Kerala High Court Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan said that strong and concerted efforts on the part of the police, non-governmental organisations, social justice departments of the States concerned as well as the youth and the students were necessary to eradicate the menace of human trafficking.

State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar said the police force of the State was overstretched on account of the manpower shortage.

He said that in order to meet the new challenges in cyber security and technology upgradation, the police had already started Cyber Dome, a centre for cyber security and innovations for the police.

Executive Chairman of the Kerala State Legal Service Authority Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan said that the Anti-Human Trafficking Clubs would help the police, executive and the legal system in tracking the offenders of human trafficking and reaching out to the victims.

National Human Rights Commission Acting Chairman Justice Cyriac Joseph said the protection of human rights was the constitutional obligation of the State.

The human trafficking amounted to violation of human rights.

High Court Judge Justice Shaji P. Chaly, P.M. Nair, Director, Research on Human Trafficking, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; and S. Sreejith, State Nodal Officer, Anti-Human Trafficking Wing of the Police, spoke. C. Jayachandran, member secretary, KELSA, welcomed the gathering.