Director-General of Police J.V. Ramudu has said the government is taking steps to tighten surveillance along the coast to prevent infiltration of terrorists through the sea route.
Alert sounded
Meanwhile, a general alert has been sounded in the State, particularly in the capital region, with police confirming that SIMI terrorists have entered the State through the sea from Tamil Nadu, at Nellore.
Accordingly, additional police forces have been deployed at shrines, official camp offices and district borders.
No progress
Following the 26/11 attacks, the Centre and State governments had proposed to implement the Coastal Security Scheme along the 974-km long coastline in the State, but there has been no progress in establishing the required number of marine police stations.
As many as six marine police stations were set up at Rushikonda (Visakhapatnam district) Kalingapatnam (Srikakulam), Dugarajupatnam (Nellore, Gilakaladindi (Krishna), Suryalanka (Guntur) and Vakalapudi (East Godavari district). The government had proposed to set up 15 more police stations two years ago, but the proposal did not materialise.
Marine police stations were mostly functioning without proper staff and live saving equipment.
“The objective of setting up marine police stations is to check intrusions and other illegal activities by coordinating with the Indian Coast Guard. The marine stations will do patrolling in five nautical miles from the coastline. But, the stations are not doing patrolling owing to poor staff and failure of interceptor boats,” a police officer said.
The Superintendents of Police have sent proposals for appointment of Special Police Officers in 508 seabed villages along the coast for maintaining better surveillance on and off the sea.
General alert has been sounded in the State, particularly in capital region, with police confirming that SIMI terrorists have entered the State
