The Andhra Pradesh Police Headquarters, located near Mangalagiri in Guntur district, is likely to move to Visakhapatnam, close to the CPI (Maoist) hotbed.
With Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan approving the three-capital and CRDA (repeal) Bills on Friday, many government departments, including the police, will shift to the Executive Capital soon.
Along with the AP Police Headquarters many other police wings will operate from Visakhapatnam and arrangements are being made in this regard. Director-General of Police (DGP) D. Gautam Sawang during his two-day visit to Visakhapatnam on July 4 and 5, surveyed for relocation of DGP and other offices.
“Earlier, we have indications of shifting the AP Police Headquarters and we searched for a new location. With the Governor approving the capital Bills on Friday, decks have been cleared and we have to move,” a senior police officer told The Hindu.
Along with the Police Headquarters, the key wings such as Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Intelligence, Communications, Crime Investigation Department (CID), Battalions, Vigilance and Enforcement, Police Welfare, P&L and other departments would be shifted to the Executive Capital, the officer said.
Shelter zone
Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) has been the major shelter zone for Maoists for the last few decades and it is the safe zone with cut-off areas, thick forests and water bodies.
Maoists threw a challenge to the government by killing Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA of the same Assembly constituency Siveri Soma, by a group of Maoists at Livitpur area, in the limits of Dumbriguda police station in September, 2018.
The Greyhounds police of AP and the Odisha police parties have taken up joint combing operations in the AOB area, which is said to be the hub and safe zone for conducting Maoist plenaries and other activities.
“We will step up security in Visakhapatnam district. Apart from our protection, we have to provide security to many VVIPs and bureaucrats in the Executive Capital,” a police personnel said.