Bengaluru, Jan 17 (IANS) Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the performance of the state in terms of conviction rate in cases of violence against Dalits is not satisfactory.

He was speaking at the annual conference of senior police officers held at the office of the state Director General of Police on Tuesday.

He said, "If the victims are to have faith in the system, the quality of investigations into cases of atrocities must be improved."

The CM gave a clear instruction that a scientifically valid charge sheet should be submitted.

"Put a complete stop to cases of violence against women and children. Punishment should be increased. Otherwise, the blame will be on the DCPs themselves for this failure," the CM warned.

"Our government has given a free hand to the police. My commitment is that we should not poke our nose in the police work. But the free hand should not be misused. It should be beneficial to the people.

"It is a bad development that police officers are eager for transfers and are also using their caste. It should not be so. We are a secular nation. We should strengthen the aspirations of our constitution," he said.

Siddaramaiah further said that grants will be set aside in the budget for the construction of Suvarna Police Bhawan to commemorate 50 years of Karnataka unification. The CM assured that the vacant police posts will also be filled.

"If law and order is good, development of the state is possible. Per capita income and GDP of the people will increase. Investors will come. So maintain law and order properly," he stated.