Ahmedabad:
Chief Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Gujarat police on Monday saying that the state has the youngest police force that had succeeded in keeping crime rate at the lowest level in the country.
Mr Modi was speaking at the passing-out parade at Gujarat's Police Academy at Karai near Ahmedabad.
The trainees comprised 61 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) including 20 women, 177 police sub-inspectors, 116 women Lok Rakshak and 33 intelligence officers.
Mr Modi said youths with technical knowledge and computer skills have joined the police force of Gujarat. "Gujarat's police force is the youngest in India," he said.
He added that credit for maintaining the atmosphere of peace and law and order during last decade goes to the state police.
"The crime rate in the state is the lowest in country," Mr Modi said, adding that Gujarat had not had a single instance of curfew in the last ten years.
He also alleged that Centre tried to demoralise the state police, in an apparent reference to arrests of senior police officers by the CBI in various fake encounter cases.
In a short span, nearly 26,000 recruitments have been made in Gujarat police force in various cadres, an official statement said, adding that highly qualified candidates, including doctors, engineers, and post-graduates had chosen the career in the police force.
Even the girls were opting for career in the police force, it said.