It is not only the political parties that are gearing up for elections or Telangana activists for another round of agitation, but also the Hyderabad city police to meet any exigencies.
As part of its preparations, the Police Department for the first-time is training policemen drawn from 60-odd police stations of the city to use tear gas guns and shells.
The training was conducted at the City Police Training Centre (CPTC) at Petlaburj.
Equipment supplied
The department has already supplied the tear gas guns and related equipment to the police stations sometime ago after higher officials felt a need to have a team at the police station level. The initiative will help the police to react swiftly and contain trouble in the initial stage.
Two batches
M. Rajasekhar, vice-principal, City Police Training Centre, said that the training is being conducted in two batches on orders of the higher officials and the module also includes practical training.
It would mean that the police officials at the station level will no longer have to wait for personnel of the tear gas units or riot control units to come to their rescue in times of flash agitations or violence. Instead they can use the tear gas teams and disperse the mobs and also bring down complaints of excessive use of force that crop up while dealing with agitations and riots, officials feel.
In the past only teams of the Commissioner’s Task Force, the striking force of the city police had the tear gas guns in addition to riot control teams at the city police headquarters.
Refresher course
The Police Department is also conducting a refresher course for its personnel in aspects such as mob control, lathi-charge, use of fire arms, etc., officials added.
