State Police await latest communication system

Jharkhand Police are yet to find a company for supplying improved digital wireless sets after TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio System) was declared defunct over a year back.

As a result, all communications in the police department are currently being done on VHS system which has been lying defunct since 2009 after TETRA failed in January 2017 by installing a new repeater at Pahari Mandir tower and distributing old sets among police personnel patrolling parties.

“We have been communicating on VHS (Video Home System) after TETRA miserably failed last year due to which Chief Minister Raghubar Das got stuck near Kishoreganj Chowk in a jam as a result of which the traffic personnel could not be informed that the CM was about to cross the place,” said a senior police official in the State Government requesting anonymity. Though it is still functional, but has a drawback that it could be intercepted by anybody on radio sets available in the market and has a problem of congestion whenever there is heavy load on it mostly in the evening, he added.

“As it could be easily intercepted, it is quite vulnerable during anti-Naxal operations and most of the time, they escape away taking advantage of our weak communication system,” said the official. The digital wireless system, on the other hand, is completely protected as it could not be intercepted by anybody by any means, he added.

“Hence, a decision has to be taken in this regard before it is too late and if there is some problem in adopting the digital system, we should move to analog system as security of the State could not be compromised at any cost,” said the official. Interestingly, tender documents revealed that only Motorola qualifies for the bidding, but they are looking for some another bidder leading to further delay in the adopting the new technology, he added.

Furthermore, the official said that 192 sub-inspectors and 690 constables have already been appointed for wireless long back and have yet to be given proper assignments.  

IG, Provisions, Arun Kumar Singh said, “A re-tender in this regard had been done some 10 days back and very soon will find a bidder to fulfill the requirements. Earlier also, tenders were floated but no one could qualify for the same.”

TETRA was commissioned in Ranchi Police in the year 2009 to beef up vigil on the capital roads and was fitted atop 50 four-wheelers and 50 two-wheelers but it went out of order in May 2015 because of some technical snag at its tower set up on Ranchi Hills.