Kozhikode: Two special squads have been pressed into service in the communally and politically sensitive rural areas of Kozhikode district to intensify check on procurement of crude bombs and other lethal weapons. The squads will especially keep vigil in Kuttiyadi and Nadapuram circle office limits.
The police said the squads comprised officers trained in safe detonation of improvised explosive devices and crude bombs. Bomb detection and disposal squad members too will be part of the squads for combined operations, they added.
The special squads were formed close on the heels of the police tracing a huge cache of lethal weapons from Nadapuram and Kuttiyadi regions recently. The biggest seizure was made by a team led by Nadapuram Sub Inspector K.P. Abhilash. The team recovered three swords and several iron rods from a deserted plot at Aroor.
A senior police officer attached to the Kozhikode Rural Police said combing operations had been intensified as part of attempts to curb political violence. The squads will also keep a tab on suspected attempts to smuggle weapons from other locations to the district, he added.
A few years ago, the rural police had begun a special inquiry into incidents in which the weapons recovered from some places in Vadakara were found to have trade links with merchants in Tamil Nadu. However, the probe lost steam mid way. Police sources hinted that a major threat was the making of large-scale crude bombs.
The rural police will also initiate steps to train students in handling suspicious items. Also, the police will strive to educate workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme who had alerted them on several occasions on spotting weapons and crude bombs.
