The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A force for instant reaction Law & order

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Saturday, Feb 09, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A force for instant reaction Law & order

The police in West Zone equip every district with a force to combat extremism, writes
V.S. Palaniappan.

With anti-social elements and Naxals finding jungles as safe hide-outs, especially in the wake of the recent arrests at Theni hills, the State Police has decided to equip every district police units to react instantly.

About the preparedness for of the police machinery in combating the naxal menace Additional Director-General of Police, Law and Order, K. Vijay Kumar said recently that the State had strong and the best Q Branch network besides young and energetic manpower.

He was confident of handling the problem with a two-decade-long rich experience in jungle warfare earned by the Special Task Force (STF).

He said in the event of a tip-off, instead of waiting for reinforcements from the camps, every police district unit would be equipped with a force well trained in combating extremism.

He said every district would have such a force since reaction without loss of time was of greater importance. In the West Zone, Inspector-General of Police Sanjay Arora said formation of such a force was of paramount important in all the seven districts in West Zone.

The districts such as the Nilgiris, Coimbatore Rural, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri are located close to the Western Ghats.

In addition, the West Zone has been sharing borders with Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Hence, maintaining a force in a state of readiness had become pertinent and imperative.As directed by the ADGP, Mr. Sanjay Arora said every district was being equipped with a force comprising 36 personnel.

The members of the force had been imparted initial training by the Special Task Force and they would be given training at periodical intervals by the district police.

The other advantage for Western Zone would be that STF camps were strategically located at Sathyamangalam in Erode and Mettur in Salem district.

The training of the force was being periodically supervised by the Superintendents of Police and then reviewed by the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police at the range level.

The force at Salem recently had a valediction for the initial training and had a trek to Yercaud hills as part of the familiarisation of the challenges ahead.

Now, the force for Erode district would be ready in the next week and the constitution of the force and their training was in final stages in the remaining districts, Mr. Sanjay Arora said.

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