Assam DGP Jayanta Narayan Choudhury talks to senior police officials at his office in Guwahati on Monday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Jan. 16: The newly appointed director-general of Assam police, Jayanta Narayan Choudhury, today said tackling the anti-dam protesters, splinter militant groups and traffic management in Guwahati would be his immediate priorities.

“According to initial briefings by my officers, the ongoing agitation against dams in Dhemaji, activities of splinter militant groups and management of traffic in Guwahati are the immediate issues at hand and we will try to identify the problems and act accordingly,” Choudhury told reporters after taking charge at the Assam police headquarters in Ulubari.

Choudhury, the 1978 batch IPS officer and former additional director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), was appointed the new DGP by the Assam government after his predecessor, Sankar Barua, retired on December 31. “By appointing me the DGP, the government has given me huge respect and responsibility and I will do my best to meet the expectations. I seek co-operation and positive criticism from all,” he said.

Asked about chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s claim that Maoists were involved in anti-dam protests, the new state police chief said, “Serving in the IB will be an advantage because I have seen agitation and protests all over the country. Decisions on policy issues are taken by the government but the police have the responsibility of maintaining law and order.”

Born in Lucknow, Choudhury, the son of an army constable, was brought up in Nalbari in lower Assam. He studied in Darjeeling, Shillong and Ajmer before pursuing his MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics.

After serving in Assam police in different districts, Choudhury joined the IB in 1985 and was posted in the Northeast and Delhi. He had also served in the Indian embassy in the US for three years.

Reposing faith in his officers, Choudhury said, “I will have to reinvent myself”, since he had been away from the state on central deputation in the IB since 1985.

Adding that his force would try to improve relations between the police and the common people, Choudhury said one of the main reasons for the growing disconnect of the police with the masses is because of the lack of adequate police force, who are overworked most of the time.