PANAJI: The Goa police will increase night patrolling and ground-level policing to curb crimes in the state, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said.

The CM convened a high-level meeting of senior police officials on Wednesday evening in the wake of a recent rise in crime across the coastal state, which also sees a heavy tourist footfall.

Sawant told reporters after the meeting, “Strict instructions have been issued to the police that henceforth, cases like that of dacoity should not happen.”

Seven dacoits attacked and looted a family of five in Vasco on Tuesday night after breaking into their seventh-floor apartment. This was the third major dacoity in the state, the earlier being reported from Dona Paula near Panaji and Mapusa town in North Goa.

Director General of Police Alok Kumar and all officers in the ranks of Inspector General of Police, Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police were present in the meeting.

“Not just cases like dacoity, we also want to ensure that even petty crimes do not take place in the state,” said Sawant, who also holds the home portfolio.

All police stations have been asked to summon history-sheeters from their respective jurisdictions and keep a strict check on their activities, said Sawant.

The chief minister said that several suggestions were discussed during the meeting, including increasing night patrolling and ground-level policing. He said the police department will adopt various strategies to curb crimes.

“It is not about the detection of crimes. The police should make sure that crimes do not happen in the first place,” he added.