TN coastal police to get 24 new all terrain vehicles to boost coastal security

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

In a bid to enhance coastal security across the Tamil Nadu coast, the state government will procure 24 all terrain vehicles (ATV) for marine police stations, according to additional director general of police, coastal security C Sylendra Babu.

Babu told Express that the all terrain vehicles will have capabilities not only in sea but also on land.

The police officer said that the superior all terrain vehicles will be imported at a cost of Rs 8 lakh. “The vehicles can be operated in sandy dunes as well as sea giving the state police a tactical advantage,” said Babu.

Interestingly, his statement comes in the wake of delegation of Parliament Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Rajya Sabha MP Venkaiah Naidu reviewing the coastal security in the state recently.

Babu also said that additional 40 checkposts have been constructed across the coastal roads in a bid to beef up surveillance in the coast. The state now has 100 checkposts.

The state is also planning additional 30 marine police stations. It already has 12 police stations, the senior police officer said. “The land for the police stations have been acquired,” he said.

He also said that Tamil Nadu was the first state to have coastal police station in 1994, way before the Mumbai terror attacks. He said the coastal stretch from Tiruvotiyur to Colachel is guarded by police stations and interceptor boats.