New Delhi: Senior IPS officer Vineet Vinayak, who was recently honoured with the President’s Police Medal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of diamond jubilee celebration of the CBI, strongly recommends better communication and synergy with the people to reduce the trust gap between police and public.

Currently working as a Joint Director with India's premier crime investigation agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chandigarh zone, Vinayak is known for his passion for bridging the gap between police and public through connecting with them directly and establishing trust through providing justice to them.

He believes that apps and technology can play a critical role in staying in touch with people round the clock, and that the ultimate goal of policing is to improve the people's ease of living, ensuring a better law and order situation, and facilitating justice to the needy.

Emphasizing upon the importance of maintaining fairness and honesty in carrying out duties, Vinayak is known to tell his officers that while signing a document may be an ordinary, run-of-the-mill work for many, but for accused people it could mean the difference between dignity and ignominy. It is, therefore, imperative that we adopt a conscientious attitude to ensure that no innocent person is wrongly punished, officers close to him inform him saying this.

Having started his career from Sikkim cadre in 1995, Vinayak also served as the Central Range DIG in Patna while being in Bihar for five years on state-to-state deputation. He also served as SP of Khagaria and Nalanda and the SSP of Patna before being elevated to the rank of DIG.

Born in Bihar, Vinayak terms the tenure of Patna and Khagaria quite challenging. As Patna SSP, he and his team had prepared a ‘Aparadh Niyantran Ki Karya Yojna’ - a preventive approach to tackle multiple layers of crime. This had a significant impact on law and order situation and led to substantial reduction in crime rates.

This unique plan had many innovative ways of tackling crimes. One of them was curtailing robberies during the wedding season. The team mapped the wedding dates in consultation with a priest to be able to deploy resources accordingly. The patrolling was intensified and reoriented during the peak wedding seasons and the results were gratifying.

Vinayak’s team also used a new approach to tackle the issue of frequent road robberies in those days. The team identified that areas surrounding petrol pumps were breeding grounds for such robberies, and accordingly on those vulnerable spots the patrolling system was reoriented. The patrol team was instructed to include petrol pumps in their regular checks and spend additional time there to create a sense of surveillance. This new approach resulted in a significant reduction in the number of robbery incidents in these areas.

Vinayak served in Sikkim, and the transition to Bihar was a changeover. While Sikkim is a peaceful, happy-go-lucky state having its own set of issues including border management, Bihar with its unique and complex socio-economic issues and huge population posed a complex challenge for policing.

Vinayak has an impressive record of serving at senior positions in the CBI for over 10 years. He has worked in the Special Crimes, Economic Offences, and Anti-Corruption Division and handled numerous cases. He has represented India's interests at various bilateral and multilateral forums, including Interpol, G-20 Anti-Corruption Working Groups, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

A Hindu College alumnus, Vinayak was elected to the Interpol Working Group for Human Trafficking and led the Indian delegation for the India-China Dialogue on Mutual Cooperation in Investigation. His achievements include his involvement in preparing the draft country response for the UN Convention against Corruption Peer Group Report, and he was offered the prestigious position of College Leader for the Police Executive Programme by Cambridge University, UK.

His good policing skills, pursuit of justice and prudence have earned Vinayak the respect and admiration of his peers and the public alike, and many recognitions and accolades from the authority. He has received several awards including the coveted Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the Police Medal for Gallantry in the past.

/BI/