Ever since Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy proposed the idea of decentralisation and setting up of three capitals with Visakhapatnam as the Executive capital, the threat from the banned CPI (Maoist), has been a topic for debate.
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The concern is logical and reasonable, as the LWE (left wing extremists) have their presence in the Visakha Agency, and it is located about 150 to 180 km from the city limits.
But many senior police officers say that the ‘concern’ for threat is ‘far- fetched’, and they do not view it as a serious danger.
According to a senior officer from the APSIB, the Maoists have been present in Visakha Agency since last two decades, but now their presence and operational capabilities are limited only to the cut-off area in the Andhra-Odisha Border region.
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Maoist documents found at a few recent exchange of fire sites reveal that they (Maoist) are unable to move out of the AOB region, due to intensified combing and area domination exercise by the security forces in the Agency areas. In a few documents the Maoists have also revealed that the killing of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma in Livitiputtu village in Dumbriguda mandal in Visakha Agency in September 2018, was a ‘mistake’, as post the incident, the security forces have not only increased their operation but also gained ground into the deep pockets and have pushed them (Maoist) back to the 1,500-sq km of cut-off area. “There presence in urban area is minimal and more importantly the police officers present in this area are well oriented to the Maoist threat, as every officer would have served in the Visakha Agency in anti-Maoist operation during some part of their career. We are well equipped with good intelligence network,” said Superintendent of Police Attada Babujee.
Threat from Maoist action teams are also minimal, as they do not have any urban base, as in the past. They can only step up their voice through their frontal agencies, but at present they do not have the resources and manpower to run action teams, as they did in the past, said Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar Meena.
But leaving no grey areas, it is learnt that the intelligence wing of the police have stepped up the vigil and are in the process of increasing their intelligence network.
City security
Coming to basic security, there is an immediate need to increase the manpower both in crime and law order section by at least 20%.
Basically, the security aspect is dealt with the law and order wing and officers feel that the strength needs to be enhanced by at least 500 additional men and officers. The current strength is around 800.
Though the basic security or close quarter security of the Ministers and lawmakers are dealt directly by the AP Police from the ISW (Intelligence Security Wing) and CSW (City Security Wing), additional manpower is needed for convoys, road opening parties, bandobust duties and special teams for sanitising key areas such as places where bureaucrats and lawmakers reside.
“We also need more vehicles, bomb disposal and dog squads, if Vizag is made the Executive capital,” said a senior police officer from the security wing.
There is also a talk that a proposal has been sent to draw men from the 16th Battalion of APSP, which is stationed at Bakkannapalem in Visakhapatnam. When Amaravati was declared as capital, men were drafted from the AR Battalion at Mangalagiri.
CCTV cover
The police are also contemplating to increase the CC TV cover in the city by another 10,000. “At present there are about 24,000 cameras, including 2,500 cameras installed by GVMC. We intend to take this number to 34,000, in the next one year. This will enhance our security and surveillance system,” said Mr. Meena.