Two new coastal police stations were opened at Elathur and Vadakara in the district on Monday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated them through videoconferencing. The event was attended by people’s representatives and senior police officers.
The Elathur police station, which falls under the jurisdiction of the city police, will handle coastal patrol mainly between Koyilandy and Kozhikode coastline. The new station has 18 staff, including a Circle Inspector and two Sub Inspectors.
“We have been waiting for its speedy opening as it will mainly benefit a large number of fishermen in the harbour area. Security concerns of fishers can be largely addressed with the opening of the new station,” said S. Ragesh, a fishermen organisation leader. The Vadakara station, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Rural police, will cover the coastline between Koyilandy and Azhiyoor. The new station has 29 staff.
The building work for the station was completed in 2016 on the 24-cent land handed over by the Revenue Department in the coastal area. The Vadakara station was one of the 131 such projects sanctioned during the term of the United Democratic Front government.
Policemen attached to the new station said the coastal stations would play a crucial role in coastal rescue activities by supporting fishermen in addition to the daily patrol duties and law-and-order enforcement.
Also, all possible surveillance measures would be taken to prevent the secret entry of anti-social or extremist elements by misusing the sea channels, they said.