The City Police are bracing itself for a tough period ahead as residents are getting ready to usher in Onam. Deployment of extra personnel, installation of more surveillance cameras, and special drives are already on, H. Venkatesh, City Police Commissioner, said.
The installation of cameras at crucial spots, including the Shanghumughom Beach, Kanakakunnu Palace premises, and other popular places, will begin on September 3, he said. Stating that around 90 of the existing 231 cameras at various points were defunct and that Keltron, the agency responsible for repair of these, would take time for the same, Mr. Venkatesh said 100 extra cameras would be installed with help from a private company, whose cameras were being taken on rent for 15 days.
Around 1,000 personnel, including two companies from the armed police Battalion, would be manning the city’s streets during the festival, with more to be deployed on September 11 for the Onam cultural procession. Booster Patrol bikes, beat patrols, and mufti patrols too would make rounds of busy areas and residential areas, Mr. Venkatesh said. Extra attention would be paid on residential areas since several families would be going out of the city on vacation once schools closed on September 5, to reopen only by September 16.
“The usual trend during such times is that locked houses are targeted, mostly by gangs from other States, migrant workers, and other organised burglary gangs. People going on vacations should inform the local police station and residents’ associations so that we can strengthen patrolling there,” said S. Ajeetha Begum, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
The police are also advising the public not to make their absence too conspicuous by locking the gates to their residential premises.
