Ahmedabad to have round-the-clock upgraded security

Ahmedabad police is gearing up to curb any possible attempt to disrupt peace in the city. Patrolling across the city has been intensified to respond to any emergency situation such as a bomb blast or rioting.

From now on, 28 police control room (PCR) vans will move across the city with four commandos armed with state-of-the-art weapons.

Making the announcement, Sudhir Sinha, commissioner of police, Ahmedabad, said that all 28 vans will have one driver and four armed commandos round-the-clock.

“We want to ensure better safety of city dwellers through this initiative and it will be a regular and permanent feature,” said Sinha. He also added that these PCR vans will function as semi quick response teams (QRTs).

Earlier, all the PCR vans had one driver, one unarmed head constable and one armed policeman carrying an old 303 rifle.

“From now onwards, one head constable will carry a Sten gun, while the other three will carry machine guns,” said Sinha.  Later, they will be given hi-tech guns such as AK-47. These PCR vans will patrol the city 24X7 divided into three shifts of eight hours each.

At present, 80 commandos are being trained at the police headquarters for this new assignment. According to Sinha, another batch of 25 policemen will be sent to Jodhpur for training. There will be equipment in the van to tackle emergency situations such as rioting. “There will be helmets, lathis and tear gas guns inside the van. It will be kept in the driver’s possession,” said Sinha.

Justifying the need for such measures, the commissioner cited the example of Mumbai’s 26/11 terror attack. “At the time of the attack, police needed automatic guns; but out of 83 nearby stations, none had such hi-tech weapons.”