Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday directed police officers to clear all unsettled cases pending since March 2020 by March-end next year.

Reviewing the law and order situation with officials of Jorhat, Sivasagar and Charaideo districts in two meetings, the chief minister took strong note of unauthorised persons writing FIRs at police stations and said immediate steps be taken to make the police stations free from such middlemen or professional FIR writers.

Sarma also called for better coordination among Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, and Joint Director of Health Services of the districts to ensure that post mortem reports are filed within 72 hours of an incident.

He further directed officials to apply appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in each FIR.

The chief minister asked the officials to organise a conference to review crimes in the districts every month and intensify ongoing operations against drugs.

He also called for timely disposal of passport verification reports, besides ensuring that no poor people are harassed by the police.

The chief minister emphasised the need for regular police patrolling in sensitive areas of the districts.