Border police stations to be fortified

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">BANGALORE: To check Naxal blitz, the police stations are being strengthened in Naxal-prone villages bordering Andhra Pradesh. To begin with, police stations in Tumkur and Kolar districts are executing a host of measures specified by the police top brass.<br /><br />Police personnel are stacking sandbags up to the compound level of police stations to protect themselves from a direct hit and also buy time to retaliate.Henceforth, four armed sky sentries will be deployed in the stations. The government is considering a proposal to have sentries from intelligent department who are sharpshooters.<br /><br />Five Tumkur police stations, including Pavagada and Thirumani, and police stations in Kolar - Bagepalli, Maragankunte, Devikunte, Krishnapura, Thimmanapalli, Pathapalya and Chelur - have been classified "sensitive" and will be provided additional force and weapons.<br /><br />Kolar police stations will get 18 new self-loading rifles (SLR) and their Tumkur counterparts additional SLRs and AK-47s. "The state intelligence officials will be in touch with the policemen here," officials said.<br /><br />Policemen have been instructed to keep weapons loaded all the time to avoid a repeat of the Venkatammanahalli incident, in which seven policemen were shot dead by Naxals before the former could rustle up a repulse.<br /><br />"We''ve sent a proposal to the government to increase staff in sensitive areas. A KSRP contingent will be permanently deployed in Pavagada and Thirumani," Tumkur SP P Muniswamy told <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Times of India.</span><br /><br />The other security measures are: illuminate the police station vicinity; keep search lights ready; hide additional weapons in a place which can be accessed only by police; deploy armed policemen at porous points along the state border; armed staff should always carry loaded weapons.</div> </div>