Madurai City police plans to introduce special armed patrols to deter anti-social elements from committing daylight murders and attempts to murder rival gangsters.
Though they have identified around 20 gangs that are involved in murders, two gangs are very active in taking revenge against each other, ending up in brutal murders for the past few years.
Even recently, a police constable aspirant B. Muruganandam was hacked to death in broad daylight on Sunday last near St. Mary’s Church. Though the target was someone else, the armed gang ended up killing “at least someone” to take revenge on the rival gang, according to police sources.
“We are planning to have around 10 two-wheeler patrol teams in areas identified as prone to such gang rivalry. While one police constable will ride the bike, the pillion rider will carry a pistol,” Commissioner of Police Prem Anand Sinha said here on Saturday.
Stating that the objective was not to shoot someone down, Mr. Sinha said the pistol would help deter attack.
A senior police official recalled that in a recent incident in Thoothukudi, an unarmed policeman was killed in an attempt to nab a history-sheeter who was in possession of bombs.
An Inspector of Police said that the gang members were seen carrying big and deadly weapons. Unarmed policemen could neither prevent them from attacking their rivals nor protect themselves. “The weapon will give moral strength to the police personnel to nab the anti-social elements and also deter them from executing the murder,” Mr. Sinha said.
The police will identify the patrol team members among around 100 police constables who have undergone commando training.
