Senior police officials and (above) residents of Infocity at a police-public interface on Sunday. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 4: Residents living within the limits of Infocity police station today urged the cops to curb illegal liquor trading near Sikharchandi in the city.

The residents also raised question on the effectiveness of police action against illegal liquor traders at an interface with cops at the Infocity area today.

“The area has become a den of liquor mafia and this has led to several crimes. Besides, the youths of the area are getting involved in criminal activities because of the illegal liquor trade,” said Santosh Singh.

Besides, several local residents raised issues related to traffic and the elderly.

Though the police station started functioning in 2009, the area assumes significance due to the presence of a number of reputed educational institutes and information technology companies.

The police said that around 70,000 students were residing within its limits.

A local resident demanded deployment of adequate traffic personnel in the area to regulate vehicular movement.

Petty crimes, such as theft and burglary, remain the major concern of both the local police and the local residents. Besides, frequent theft of laptops and mobile phones have kept students a worried lot in the area.

The police have so far registered a dozen of cases related to laptop theft this year.

The residents of Infocity area have also demanded intensification of night patrolling along with action against illegal parking of trucks on the main roads at night.

“Hundreds of trucks can be spotted parked on the main roads during night. Besides, illegal parking on the roads near Magnetic Square has become a major problem in the area,” said Pramod Patra.

However, police commissioner R.P. Sharma asked the local residents to co-operate with them to curb crimes in the area.

“The major residential colony in the area would become a part of community policing. A resident security committee would be constituted and volunteers would be identified to help police in patrolling,” said Sharma.

The police have so far conducted several such meetings with residents living under various police stations in the city, including Laxmisagar, Chandrasekharpur, Mancheswar and Jatni.