With the city witnessing an exponential growth and threat perceptions increasing for vital installations, the jurisdiction of the Greater Chennai Police is likely to be redrawn. A Suburban Police Commissionerate may be created with its headquarters in St. Thomas Mount, according to police sources.
An announcement on the bifurcation with details of manpower/infrastructure and fund allocation is expected soon, the sources said on Friday.
The coverage
The Greater Chennai Police covers about 130 police stations spread across 12 police districts with a strength of more than 20,000 police personnel.
The Police Commissionerate was first bifurcated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, led by the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, by creating the Chennai Suburban Police in 2008. In 2011, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, headed by the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, merged the two Commissionerates restoring unified command.
Besides the three police districts of St. Thomas Mount, Ambattur and Madhavaram, the proposed Suburban Commissionerate might see creation of two new police districts in Poonamalee and Tambaram, the sources said.
Some of the vital installations that came under the security cover of the erstwhile Suburban Commissionerate included the Chennai Airport, Officers Training Academy of the Indian Army and the Air Force Station, Tambaram.
According to senior police officials, the creation of the Suburban Commissionerate is necessitated by the fact that inter-State/district borders and peripheral areas were considered a safe haven for anti-social elements to form a base and operate in the city.
Before it was merged with the Greater Chennai Police, the then Suburban Commissionerate had three Commissioners in the rank of Inspector-General of Police — S.R Jangid, Rajesh Das and Karan Singha.
Sources said the government was considering posting an Additional Director-General of Police rank officer. “Suburban Commissionerate, as in major cities like Mumbai (Navi Mumbai and Thane) and Hyderabad (Cyberabad), would help in a more focused management of security parameters such as VVIP movement, vehicle checks and access control measures,” a police officer said.
