VIP visits: Police buy bullet-proof vehicles

Aman Sood

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, September 2

Keeping in mind the recent terror attacks and the upcoming poll, when politicians from across India are expected to visit Punjab, the state police have purchased massive defence equipment.

These include bullet-proof patkas for Sikh cops, new bullet-proof vehicles, bullet-proof jackets, armoured personnel carrier and other equipment. This is one of the biggest purchases made by the state police in the recent times.

Punjab Police officials said the major requirement of the department was bullet-proof vehicles as the security wing of the state had only three ambassador cars, those too in poor condition. During VIP visits, the state police either had to provide a “compromised available vehicle” or take out a Montero from the Chief Minister’s cavalcade.

Now, the state will have a minimum of five SUVs (two Fortuner and three Scorpio) that would be bullet proof and would cater to the VIP demand in the upcoming poll.

“We have received the vehicles and they have been dispatched for bullet proofing,” Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said. “The whole idea is to equip the force with all modern anti-terror equipment to ensure minimum injuries to our forces,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the need for bullet-proof patkas was felt during the two terror attacks, in Dinanagar and Pathankot, when elite commandos were seen without any headgear.

The ones procured by the state now are light weight bullet-proof patkas, which offer protection to the forehead and sides of the head from fragmentation munitions, low velocity bullets, shrapnel and debris from IEDs and mines/ booby traps laid on the ground. Further, these patkas will also not interfere with any religious beliefs of not wearing any helmet.

The other equipment procured include fabricated water canons (13), vajra vehicles (3), body protectors (500), polycarbonate shields (453), gas masks (450), micro unmanned vehicle (2), bullet-proof jackets (787), night vision devices (20), armoured personnel carrier (11), light bullet-proof vehicles (19), bullet-proof morcha (552), bullet-proof tractors (24).

With unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with cameras doing surveys, the bomb and bullet-proof vehicles will enable elite commandos to enter any battle zone “without worrying about the gun battle”. Senior officials said the equipment would ensure minimum risk to on-duty cops during anti-terror operations.