Cyberabad police on Wednesday unveiled an ‘Integrated IT Corridor Safety and Security Plan’ aimed at enhancing security for women employees in the IT corridor here in the city. A helpline (Ph. No. 94947 31100) was also launched to enable women seek assistance from police during emergencies.
As part of the plan, the police officials would adopt a five-pronged strategy to plug security loopholes and enhance the existing security setup to ensure proper security to the women working in the IT and ITeS sectors in Cyberabad limits.
Giving a powerpoint presentation on a slew of measures taken up by the police after the rape of a software engineer by a cab driver and his friend two months ago, Cyberabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand said five new IT corridor police patrols, each manned by a head constable and three constables, have been introduced. Eight-policemen were allotted for the corridor policing and a separate Inspector was also posted.
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Nine new police check-posts were started as part of measures taken up at a cost of Rs.2 crore to enhance visible policing in Hitec city and surroundings. Forty-seven surveillance cameras with fibre optic connectivity to command centre would be set-up with a cost of Rs.4 crore provided by the Society for Cyberabad Security Council. Night-vision facility would also be added to it, he explained.
The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) too has granted Rs.5 crore for establishing security systems. Plans have been drawn up to rope in malls and other business establishments, besides 150 IT companies and IT Parks into CCTV network and also contribute Re.1 per square feet of built up area annually. Short films with duration of one, two and five minutes were made to educate women on various security aspects.
The Commissionerate is also planning to set-up a forum for women by involving employees working in IT firms. After the techie’s incident, the APSRTC is operating 40 buses in IT corridor everyday and Mr. Anand said, “We advice women to use public transport effectively as RTC is operating 326 trips with 40 buses”.
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Registration of cab and auto rickshaw drivers with the police has been made mandatory and coded stickers containing driver’s ID numbers would be displayed inside vehicles. Officials are planning to establish a pre-paid auto rickshaw stand with proper surveillance mechanism.
Director-General of Police B. Prasada Rao suggested women to focus on learning self-defence skills and adopt precautionary measures such as carrying pepper sprays to deal with trouble-mongers.
Tennis player Sania Mirza and APIIC Managing Director Jayesh Ranjan also spoke.