Thiruvananthapuram: Police stations, which once scared people with dark lock-up rooms and khaki-clad officers, are now all set to tickle the funny bones of visitors in Kerala, thanks to cartoons.

Seeking to change the conventional perception of police stations and to make them more people-friendly, authorities have decided to put up cartoons showing the force in a positive light on the station walls.

Besides those conveying a positive message about police, cartoons carrying the messages of anti-corruption and humanity would also adorn the walls of the police stations soon.

According to the present plan, all the 481 police stations in the state would have at least one such positive cartoon each on their walls within the next two months, official sources here said.

Kicking off the programme, State police chief DGP Loknath Behera on Tuesday distributed cartoons to six police stations in the state capital.

The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Fort, Valiyathura, Kovalam, Vanchiyoor, Museum and Peroorkkada police stations received the cartoons to be put up on their respective stations from the DGP at a function police Headquarters officials here said.

"Cartoons about the police will be put up in all the 481 police stations across the state. For that, anybody can submit us the cartoons," Behera, who conceived the idea, said.

The sprawling police headquarters here houses a number of cartoons drawn by eminent cartoonists.

Authorities have already collected cartoons from various artists, especially from noted state-based artist Ha Ku, to adorn the walls of the police stations.

There have been various complaints against the alleged ill-treatment faced by people who come to the police stations to lodge a complaint or report a crime.

The recent incidents of alleged third-degree tortures faced by people in some places have also made police stations a synonym of fear in the state.