Jaipur, Oct 10 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said on Thursday that criminals should be so afraid of the police that they either leave crime or else leave the state.

"To prevent anti-social elements who intend to spread anarchy and unrest in the state, ensure that law and order are maintained by making the best use of the police intelligence system and informer system. The criminals should either leave the crime or the state as they should be afraid of the police actions," the Chief Minister said while chairing the Home Department meeting.

He told police officers that their alertness and vigilance play an important role in maintaining law and order.

Sharma directed that the police should work with full vigilance and promptness to maintain law and order in the state, adding that retaining a high standard of law is the priority of the state government and it is the responsibility of the police to ensure it.

He encouraged the police officials to reduce crimes against women and Scheduled Caste and also gave instructions to deal strictly with criminals involved in cybercrime and illegal drug trade.

He said that due to the alertness and vigilance of the Police Department, the graph of crimes in the state has fallen rapidly compared to last year.

'At the state level, there has been a 7.3 per cent reduction in total crimes in the state. There has been a significant reduction of 8.8 per cent in atrocities against women and 13.96 per cent in cases of Scheduled Caste atrocities.

He said that the police are continuously working to deal with cybercrime and cyber police stations have also been formed. He praised the work being done to prevent cybercrime in Bharatpur, adding that the Police Department should continuously monitor cybercrime.

The Chief Minister that there are CLG members and Gram Rakshaks in the state and through community policing, a supportive role is being played in crime control, awareness in society and maintaining law and order.

He added that the Narcotics Department should take action against drug addiction by taking responsibility.

'Our goal is to save the youth from the tendency of drug consumption,' he added.

He also took cognisance of mobile phone-related incidents in jails and gave strict instructions to not repeat them in future.

He said that if criminals are found using mobile phones inside the jail premises, the responsibility of the concerned jail personnel will be fixed and strict action will be taken against them.

He also praised the investigations being done by SOG in paper leak cases, saying that the SOG's action is being praised all over the country.

'The state government worked by adopting a zero-tolerance policy in these cases,' he added.

/IANS