Bastar SP bags international award for community policing

Bastar SP Arif Sheikh has bagged the International Association of Chiefs Awards (the Oscars of community policing) in the 'Homeland Security' category for his campaign 'Amcho Bastar, Amcho Police'. The campaign AMBP helps to rehabilitate children affected by Left Wing Extremism and focuses on neutralizing Maoists. This is the second time in a row that Sheikh is getting this award, the first time being in 2016 when he was SP of Balod. For his unique initiative in community policing, he will receive the award at an award ceremony held in Philadelphia, US on October 24. Sheikh was posted as Bastar SP in March. He added a new dimension to community policing through his campaign Amcho Bastar Amcho Police (ABAP) that brought about a change in the attitude of people towards police and their own safety. Children are rescued from the clutches of Maoists and after counselling, they are sent to rehabilitation for skill development and studies. Sheikh approached the remotest regions in Bastar where he conducted several programmes to reach out to maximum population and interacted with them boosting their self-confidence and feeling of safety. Sheikh informed that ABAP is a partnership programme between police and community to understand the problems of people who are naturally shy, scared and reserved. Their motive is to build friendly relations with locals through mobile police stations, during weekly markets and fairs.