BENGALURU: TO ensure quick deployment of its personnel in emergency situations, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will soon station one of its Rapid Action Force (CRPF) battalions in Bengaluru.
Currently, RAF teams from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh are called in to help the state police in controlling riots or other law and order related situations. After the state government makes a requisition, it takes around eight hours for the team to reach the city and and be deployed. Most of the damage is done by that time.
Once the RAF battalion is located in the city, the response time will be reduced substantially. “One team will always be ready and they will start as soon as we get a requisition. Within few minutes, they will be in action and help local police in handling the situation,’’ said a senior CRPF officer. Each battalion of RAF will have 1,500 personnel.
“The RAF battalion has already been raised and it will be deployed in Bengaluru as soon as we get the land and infrastructure is ready,’’ Additional Director General (ADG), South Zone, CRPF Shailendra Kumar told Express on Saturday.
A team of senior officers from CRPF including, Kumar and P Nagarajan, DIG, CRPF Bengaluru met the Chief Secretary and state police chief on Friday and requested them to provide land for the battalion. As per the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state government has to provide land free of cost for the battalion and the process has been initiated.
Kumar said the state government is keen to provide land and it had initially identified a place in Mangaluru. Since the RAF has to be stationed in a strategic location so that it can reach Bengaluru or any other place as quickly as possible, the CRPF felt that the batallion should be stationed in the state capital. Now the government is considering two locations - one near Devanahalli and another at Kunigal in Tumakuru district. One of them will be finalised soon.
The CRPF now has two campuses in city - in Yelahana on Doddaballapur Main Road and in Taralu on Kanakapura Road. In Taralu, the CRPF has a Dog Breeding and Training School (DBTS). Dogs trained at the school are deployed with the forces involved in counter-insurgency operations.
The school has trained and deployed ober 250 dogs. They have helped the force to recover close to 2,500 kg of explosives and helped save many lives, said Deputy Inspector General of Police J Rajendran, principal of the school. On Thursday, the 16th batch of dogs and handlers passed out of the school.