PUDUCHERRY:As part of modernising the police force, the Puducherry police is scheduled to introduce 10 new police patrol vans on Puducherry Liberation Day, to be observed on Sunday. These new Tata Sumo vehicles, purchased out of the MPLAD scheme provided by former Rajya Sabha member P Kannan, will also serve the dual purpose of being Ambulances on the roads.
These 10 patrol vans are scheduled to be flagged off on Liberation Day and will be the part of the beach road parade, which will be attended by Chief Minister Rangasamy, his Cabinet colleagues and other senior dignitaries.
It has been a long cherished dream of Puducherry police to modernize the police patrol vans, whose movements can be monitored by the Control Room through CCTV cameras installed at various important junctions and through GPS to track their locations. All distress calls made to ‘Dial 100’ will be passed on to the police patrol vans, through wireless, who in turn will attend these calls as the first responder to the incident, said Inspector General of Police, Praveer Ranjan.
The vans are fitted with LED bar lights, sirens, public address system and a GPS system. In addition, these vans have also been tailor-made to double up as ambulances with a stretcher and a First-Aid Kit made available in it. Also, these vans will carry anti-riot equipment. In case of any accidents, these vans can be used for carrying the injured to the nearest hospital in the shortest possible time.
They will function round-the-clock in the city to prevent incidences of crime and to attend to any crime reported to the Control Room. In case, the situation warrants the presence of the local police, these vans will wait at the scene of the crime till the local Police take over the investigation. These patrol vans will have specific areas earmarked for patrolling and during the 24-hour schedule, it will be endeavour to cover most of the points earmarked for them. Special attention will be paid to all crowded areas like bus stops, cinema halls, religious places, market areas and the places where crime against women are likely to take place. The presence of such vans will also deter people from creating nuisance in public places especially revelers visiting Puducherry for drinking purpose.
It is felt that the visibility of the police force will remarkably improve by their presence on the road and instil confidence in the minds of the people who can easily spot them and report any untoward incident.
In the next phase it will be introduced in the outlaying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam through the MPLAD fund of the Members of parliament.