The Hindu : Front Page : Proposal to expand city police limits

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Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
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Proposal to expand city police limits

V.S. Palaniappan

Coimbatore: The city police have mooted a proposal to expand their jurisdictional area. This will involve having six more police stations in the suburbs under its administrative control. This will lead to the creation of a Greater Coimbatore City Police on the lines of the Greater Chennai City Police.

The burgeoning population resulted in new residential areas coming up in the suburbs. To keep pace with the growth, the urban sub-division of the erstwhile Coimbatore District Police was upgraded into a police commissionerate on April 14, 1990. On October 20, 2005, the Podanur Police Station was attached to the city police. Two new police stations – Rathinapuri and Kuniamuthur – were sanctioned.

This took the total number of police stations to 15, leading to the creation of one more sub-division, Coimbatore South. This was done as Podanur was considered communally sensitive and because of its proximity to the city. Because of the better infrastructure available to the city police, the administration always wanted the communally sensitive and crime-prone areas near the city to be brought under single administrative control. City police stations had more manpower and adequate vehicles than those in rural limits. Since offenders used to go into hiding in a different area after committing a crime in one area, coordination between the city and the rural police was necessary, officials felt.

The present proposal is to have six more police stations – Madukkarai, Perur, Thudialur, Vadavalli, Sulur and Chettipalayam – attached to the city police and to form two new sub-divisions for a total of 21 police stations.

The logic behind including Madukkarai is that it shares its borders with Kerala.This will help maintain better vigil over fundamentalists on either side of the border.

Perur is sought to be included to check activities of Hindu outfits there.

Thudialur and Vadavalli, extensions of the city, have been proposed to be brought under the city police juridisction. Sulur, just 6 km from Coimbatore, has an Air Force Station and shares a stretch of National Highway 67. Chettipalayam, an upcoming suburb, is home to people from all faiths. Hence visible policing and a close vigil are essential to prevent conflicts.

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