Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang has said the Police Department is fully geared up to meet its future expansion needs in the city.
“We are looking for accommodation in Vizag for the last couple of days,” Mr. Sawang said while addressing the media here on Sunday.
Mr. Sawang said establishment of a Greyhounds facility was mentioned in the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014. The existing facility was in Hyderabad, which had become a part of Telangana. The government earmarked about ₹220 crore for the purpose, he added.
“After almost five years, the Greyhounds facility is taking shape with the allotment of 384 acres at Jagannadhapuram village of Anandapuram mandal,” he said, and added that many features would have to be incorporated to make it a full-fledged training centre-cum-residential facility for the elite force.
“The allotted land extent is not sufficient. The facility needs a forest-like land for training purpose. We have inspected a few sites near Simhachalam for it,” the DGP said.
After the Cabinet nod for the new facility, the land was inspected by Principal Secretary (Revenue) Usharani and district Collector V. Vinay Chand a few days ago. A part of the land, about 145 acres, was encroached upon by the local farmers. A three-member committee was constituted to look into the matter.
Pat for personnel
Giving a pat to the police personnel, who had been sparing no effort to check the spread of COVID-19, the DGP said they rose to the occasion.
Mr. Sawang said that as many as 466 police personnel from the State, including 13 from Visakhapatnam district, contracted the virus and one policeman died in the line of duty.
The department was taking all measures to create awareness on the precautions to be taken by the policemen.
Besides conducting awareness camps, it was confining elderly policemen to administrative duties, he added.