YSR's pat for police, public on Ganesh immersion

Hyderabad, Sep 26 (UNI)Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today lauded the police and people for the peaceful conclusion of the Ganesh Immersion in the city even as he announced an increase in the strength of the police personnel by almost 40 per cent to meet the threat of terrorists and Maoists.

Quoting Dr Reddy, a press release here said the Chief Minister hoped the people would continue to show the same enthusiasm, zeal and vigil in future also.

He said despite apprehensions in some quarters after the recent twin blasts in the city, the police took every possible step to prevent any untoward incident and with the coooperation of the people the immersion ceremony passed off peacefully.

Dr Reddy said he also approved a proposal to increase the strength of police personnel by 37,800 taking the total to nearly 1.40 lakh.Such a massive increase was taking place for the first time in the state's history.

The decision was to improve the strength of the state police considering the reported terrorist activity in the state and the sporadic attacks of Maoists.

The Chief Minister said 20 new police stations and ten traffic police stations would be established in the state.

The proposal for OCTOPUS to have a strength of 3,000 was however reduced by the Chief Minister to 1,600 to begin with so that it would work as a viable force.

Dr Reddy also decided to sanction additional perks to all policemen of the Greyhounds, OCTOPUS and those on sensitive and vulnerable duties.

UNI