Crime Literature Festival of India Sparks National Dialogue on Crime, Justice and Society in Dehradun

The third edition of the Crime Literature Festival of India (CLFI) concluded in Dehradun after three days of intense dialogue and reflection on crime, justice and society, bringing together an eminent and diverse group of voices including Governor of Uttarakhand Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd.), acclaimed filmmaker Ketan Mehta, Festival Chairman and former DGP Uttarakhand Ashok Kumar, Festival Director and former DG Uttarakhand Aloke Lal, former Commissioners of Delhi Police Amod Kanth and Neeraj Kumar, former DGP Uttarakhand Anil Raturi, former DGP UP Prashant Kumar, Justice R.K. Gauba, former ACP Madhukar Zende, actresses Tridha Choudhury and Anuritta K. Jha, filmmaker and writer Zeishan Quadri, DSP (Retd.) KK Gautam, along with leading authors, journalists, editors, educationists, cyber experts and law-enforcement professionals from across the country.

- TBG NETWORK

Organised by the Doon Cultural and Literary Society (DCLS) at Hyatt Centric, Dehradun, the festival positioned the city once again as a national hub for conversations that look beyond sensational headlines to examine the deeper social, psychological and institutional dimensions of crime.

The festival was inaugurated by Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd.), who described crime as a reflection of inner human conflict and said that platforms like CLFI help society engage meaningfully with questions of justice, accountability and truth. Welcoming the audience, Ashok Kumar said CLFI remains India's only festival dedicated entirely to crime as a genre, engaging with issues such as land frauds, drug abuse, cybercrime, road safety, women's safety and social responsibility, while Aloke Lal called it a path-breaking platform that examines both real and fictional crime to understand why negative impulses turn into action.