Bhubaneswar: Senior IPS officer Binay Kumar Behera has been appointed as the first Commissioner of the police commissionerate system covering the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Though Behera, an officer of 1982 batch, was designated as the Commissioner, the government was yet to select officers for the posts of ACP and DCPs. Earlier the state Assembly had passed the Orissa Urban Police Bill in December 2003, sources said.

Behera, an Inspector General of Police rank officer was till today working as the chairman-cum-managing-director of the Orissa State Road Transport Commission (OSRTC), later told reporters that he would like to bring police close to the people s problem.

With introduction of the urban policing, the police would have two separate wings, one to deal with the law and order while another exclusively for crime detection and investigation. The government has formed a high power committee comprising Director General of Police (DGP) and other senior officers to study functioning of the commissionerate system in other cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and other places.

Source : PTI