Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that the State government will take a concrete decision on the demand to relocate the Dakshina Kannada District Police Headquarters from Mangaluru.
He was speaking to reporters after chairing a high-level meeting of senior police officials from the Western Range of the State Police at Bantwal near here. Asked whether the headquarters would be shifted to Puttur or Bantwal, Mr. Bommai said that he would soon hold a meeting of senior officers on this.
Meanwhile, responding to the demand of Bantwal MLA Rajesh U. Naik, the Minister said that the Bantwal Town Police Station would be upgraded with the Station House Officer being in the rank of a Police Inspector. Bantwal Rural Police Circle would be headed by another Police Inspector, he added.
Mr. Naik had, during the Assembly session, demanded that the Bantwal Police Station should be upgraded considering the sensitive nature of the region. When he reminded Mr. Bommai of this during that latter’s Thursday's visit, the Minister responded positively and asked officials to implement it.
The Minister also said that housing for police personnel would be increased from the present 60 % availability to at least 80 % in the next three years.
The State is among the few that provide housing for police personnel, Mr. Bommai said.
Since the election code of conduct was in force in Mangaluru city in view of the elections to the Corporation Council, the review meeting was held in Bantwal.
Inspector-General of Police J. Arun Chakravarthi, Superintendents of Police from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Chikkamagaluru B.M. Laxmi Prasad, Nisha James, Shivaprakash and Harish Pande, respectively, and other senior officials attended the meeting.
Hubballi blast
Earlier, speaking to reporters on his arrival at the airport here, Mr. Bommai said that the State Police were taking help from their counterparts in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh to crack the recent Hubballi blast case. Investigation is going on in full swing and those behind the blast would be brought to book.
He further said that there was no question of having a mid-term poll in the State.
Trends of election results in Maharashtra and Haryana reaffirmed the popularity of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, he added.
