VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Wednesday sanctioned Rs 6.75 crore for procurement of 10 bulletproof vehicles for Chief Minister, ministers, senior IPS officers, and VVIPs and VIPs visiting the State. Five armoured Mahindra Scorpio and another five Tata Hexa will join the fleet wherever there is a shortage or replacement needed, said a senior IPS officer in the Intelligence department.
Soon after YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as the CM, Intelligence Security Wing (ISW) and CM personal security force inducted six new black bulletproof Toyota Fortuner SUVs, replacing old Tata Safari Storme cars used by the previous Chief Minister, on June 18, 2019. According to the sources, the new vehicles will be handed over to the Intelligence Security Wing which will further distribute them based on the necessity.
“The new Scorpio and Tata Hexa cars come with additional security features for the safety of CM, ministers and other VIPs. There is a huge need to replace some cars given to ministers and IPS officers in the State. The new cars will be replaced with those in bad condition,” the officials said.
The sources added a minister, who was provided a bullet-proof vehicle in view of threat perception, faced trouble with the old vehicle. “The minister reportedly even faced health issues as he was forced to move in the vehicle frequently, and even chose not to travel in the vehicle at one point.” In this backdrop, the Intelligence department sought permission from the State government to purchase new bulletproof vehicles to replace the old ones, sources said.