Key routes such as the Benguluru Highway (NH:48) and the Madras-Kochi Road will soon be safer, as the Ranipet district police have rolled out 26 high-powered two-wheelers to patrol highways and arterial roads within its limits round the clock. The vehicles were flagged off on Wednesday by Superintendent of Police (SP) Om Prakash Meena at the district police office in Ranipet.
Named “Garuda”, the two-wheeler police patrol programme will strengthen the existing five-jeep patrol services, preventing highway robberies and other crimes within the newly-carved district. On average, each two-wheeler patrol team, with two officers on duty, will cover around 10 km in three shifts, every day. Initially, the motorcycle patrol will be carried out in major towns like Arcot, Arakkonam, Wallajah, Ranipet and Sholingur. They will later be extended to the rural pockets in the district. However, the primary function of the two-wheeler patrol in the district is to monitor movements of vehicles and people on major national highways like the Bengaluru Highway and State highways that connect Ranipet with its neighbouring districts like Tiruvannamalai and Tiruvallur. “The two-wheeler patrol also helps police personnel reach narrow lanes and crowded places in the district. It helps better surveillance in the district,” said Mr. Meena.
At present, the district police patrols 250 km every day with its decades-old jeeps. Among them, the Benguluru Highway between Pilayar Kuppam and Poonumani Pattarai in Ranipet is the longest, with a distance of 48 km, followed by the Madras-Kochi Road, with 26 km, which comes under the Ranipet police district limits. Separate police teams have been formed from each police station to carry out two-wheeler patrolling. A high-level team led by the SP will monitor the teams on a daily basis.
The SP also launched a free 24-hour helpline (9498180972) to help victims register complaints from their homes. As and when the police control room and station house officers concerned receive calls from victims, including women and children in distress, information will be passed on to the nearest patrol team to attend to it immediately. Two-wheeler patrol teams are expected to reach the complaint spot in five minutes of receiving the alert from the control room.
Deputy Superintendent of Police K.T. Pourani, Inspector (Law and Order) Soloman Raja and Inspector (Traffic) Mukeshkumar were present.
