Training for police to tackle naxalite

Vellore:District Forest Officer, Vellore, K. Manickam presenting the first prize to a trainee at the camp in the Amirthi forests near Vellore on Tuesday. Vellore SP N. Arivuselvam (extreme left) is in the picture.The 15-day jungle training camp, organised by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) for the first batch of 22 policemen of the district, concluded at the Amirthi forests about 27 km from here on Tuesday.

Participating in the valedictory, N. Arivuselvam, District Superintendent of Police, said that while Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts were already identified as prone to naxalite infiltration, Vellore and Thiruvallur districts, which have borders with Andhra Pradesh, were also identified as naxalite-prone last year.The apprehension of three naxalites in the forest of Periyakulam, which was far away from naxalite-infested Andhra Pradesh, had led to a State-wide alert and combing operations. When the naxalites could easily access the forests in Periyakulam district, it might not be difficult for them to infiltrate into Vellore district, which had a 220-km border with Andhra Pradesh.

This was the deciding factor in conducting combing operations in the district. As part of the measures to tackle the naxalites, it was decided to conduct a special jungle training camp for the policemen in order to equip them to tackle the naxalites. While a Naxalite Special Division has been formed with one inspector, two sub-inspectors and two constables to gather intelligence, border vigilance committees had been formed and also seven check-posts formed along the border areas. Policemen should be physically fit and mentally alert as naxalites are capable of making surprise attacks.The commandos trained in this camp would be used only for operations in Vellore district and they would train other policemen, he noted.

Trainees Madhuraj, Prabhakaran and T.K. Sachidanandam got the first, second and third prizes respectively for their performance.K. Manickam, District Forest Officer, distributed the prizes. Mr. Arivuselvam distributed certificates. L. Ramadoss, ADSP, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, and A.K. Parthasarathy, ADSP, District Crime Records Bureau, spoke. The trainees were taught rock-climbing, global positioning system and firing. Trainee Govindasamy proposed a vote of thanks.