THRISSUR: Director-General of Police Jacob Punnoose IPS has said the department is planning to launch a civil defence academy on the premises of the Kerala Police Academy at Ramavarmapuram here with the support of the Union and state governments.
He was speaking to reporters after presenting the Ezharakkoottam Award for communal harmony to Santhwanam chairman Mon Francis Alappatt in the presence of Mon Archbishop Emeritus of Thrissur Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy and Therambil Ramakrishnan MLA at a function held here on Sunday. “The Revenue Department has begun the ground works to start the academy,” the DGP said.
The civil defence academy was meant to facilitate speedy relief and rescue operations in the event of natural calamities and coordinate disaster management activities. The academy would also regulate fire safety standards and public warning system to prepare the population to deal with emergencies, he said.
Mapranam theft case
Jacob Punnoose said the investigation into the theft of holy relics from Mapranam Holy Cross Shrine Church near Irinjalakkuda was in the right track and the culprits would be caught at the earliest.
“We have issued a look-out notice for the main accused in the case. It is yet to be known whether more people are involved in the case,” he said.
On the dissimilarities in the fingerprints collected from the brass stands of the monstrance (aralikka), on which the relics of the holy cross were installed, which were found from the Church premises, and those fingerprints collected from the spot inside the church from where the holy relics were stolen, the DGP said the Forensic Department was looking into the minute details of the fingerprints.