Police to hire choppers to patrol naxal areas in Varanasi

Places like Chandoli, Sonbhadra and the area along the Bihar border are naxal-hit. The decision to initiate aerial reconnaissance of these inaccessible areas was taken at a meeting held by the Inspector General of Police (Varanasi range) Rajendra Pal Singh here yesterday during a meeting.

"Some of the naxal-hit regions are so inaccessible that police vehicles are not able to reach those spots. There is always a life threat to the soldiers who try to enter such inhospitable regions, as naxal attacks could come from anywhere. Therefore, we have taken a decision to use choppers to keep an eye on these regions. We will hire private helicopters for this exercise," Singh said today.

"Allocations for patrolling the naxal regions has been increased four fold. Approximately Rs 6.25 crore have been distributed in different regions for this purpose. We will also request the telecom companies to increase the number of towers for a better connectivity and communication for our staff during the patrolling. Satellite phones would also be used," he said.

The police is also going to improve upon its image amongst the people residing in the naxal-infested regions.

"We are going to focus on the community development in such areas. We will co-operate with the NGOs and other organisations working there. The youths in these regions would also be given training in computers and driving," Singh said.