The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Two centres of Greyhounds to be set up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Two centres of Greyhounds to be set up

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD : Two new centres for Greyhounds, the elite anti-naxalite outfit, will be set up with headquarters at Visakhapatnam and either at Kadapa or Kurnool in order to meet the increasing challenge posed by extremist violence.

Each centre of the Greyhounds will have 10 units, each comprising 30 men.

This was announced by Home Minister K. Jana Reddy at a press conference after a review of the law and order situation by the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, at a conference with District Collectors and Superintendents of Police here on Tuesday.

He said the Greyhounds would be used not only for anti-naxalite operations but also for tackling other crimes like faction fights. Two battalions of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police had been set up at Anantapur and Khammam, he said.

It was also decided to recruit more home-guards to overcome the shortage of police personnel by increasing the budgetary allocation for the department. Andhra Pradesh, he explained, had 114 policemen for every one lakh population against 162 in Kerala, 151 in Karnataka and 149 in Maharashtra.

Field problems

During the discussion on field problems encountered by the administration while tackling extremist and factional violence, the Chief Minister announced several on-the-spot decisions.

The meeting noted that there was a marked improvement in the law and order situation in the State although some areas continued to pose problems.

COCA to be revived

The Home Minister announced that the A. P. Control of Organised Crime Act (APCOCA) would be revived.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail