JOIN USOn Saturday, a few residents of Viveknagar were taken by surprise when they saw a platoon of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) “combing” the area.
The RAF personnel have been in the city for the past three days on a “familiarisation” trip, visiting parts of Bengaluru. On Saturday, they also visited the Vidhana Soudha, the Chinnaswamy and Kanteerava stadiums.
A senior police officer said, “The platoon from Coimbatore is visiting various police stations and sensitive areas. The local police will assist them in taking them around sensitive religious places, areas which house VVIPs, government and important corporate offices. “This exercise is aimed at ensuring that the RAF personnel get a fair knowledge about these areas, which will help them when they are summoned for duty.
“We usually summon them during a calamity or an emergency due to law and order problem. This exercise will help them in knowing the areas better. They discussed with the local police about the areas and issues, besides studying the geography and demography of the places,” added the officer.
City Police Commissioner N S Megharikh said, “It is a kind of advance intelligence programme, where the RAF personnel will visit various places. They usually visit different cities once a year to gain knowledge about the places. This familiarisation exercise will help them act swiftly during an emergency.”
Shamshuddin Baig, a shopkeeper in Chamarajpet, said, “We usually get to see the RAF only when there is an emergency or during elections. But it was a surprise to see them walking in the area, as there was nothing major happening. Later, we found it was just a part of their routine programme and they were getting to know the ground reality of different areas in the city.”