With hardly a fortnight to go for Deepavali, City Police are gearing up for ensuring a crime-free shopping experience in the core shopping areas of Coimbatore City.
City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan and Deputy Commissioners of Police Pravesh Kumar (Law and Order), K. Sugumar (Crime), T.K. Rajasekaran (Traffic) are drawing up a detailed bandobust plan based on the security schemes implemented last year and also on the basis of incidents of crime reported during the festival season. To begin with, police have started installing barricades using wooden scaffolding for segregating the movement of pedestrians on one side of Oppanakkara Street to have exclusive motorable space for the traffic to flow.
To prevent incidents of pocket picking and bag lifting, six new teams have been constituted in addition to the two existing teams.
Mr.Sugumar said that police have identified Oppanakkara Street, Raja Street, Big Bazaar Street, Cross Cut Road, 100 Feet Road, DB Road, TV Samy Road, Tiruchi Road and Avanashi Road and the malls for stepped up surveillance. The enhanced focus will be around shops dealing with consumer durables, jewellery and textiles. Policemen in uniform and those in plain clothes will be equipped with photographs of habitual offenders and ex-convicts. Police are also planning to step up the pace of crime prevention activities by installing watch towers in shopping areas besides going in for Closed Circuit Televisions hooked to a control room. Special focus will be on preventing the looting of valuables from cars and two-wheelers and also against theft of two-wheelers.
Specially-trained crime wing personnel will be in shopping areas on the lookout for criminals known for robbing people by resorting to the modus operandi of ‘diversion of attention’.
Mr.Sugumar said that people should not sport valuables or handle cash bags carelessly, throwing an invitation to criminals.
Public co-operation is paramount in ensuring a crime-free shopping experience during Deepavali, he said.
