Policing in IT corridor expected to improve

Policing in IT corridor expected to improve

The unprecedented growth in the Southeastern parts of the city following the IT revolution has thrown up new challenges for the police

The Hindu

POLICING IN the city's information technology (IT) corridor is expected to improve as the State Government on October 7 notified the setting up of four new police stations in the area, apart from bringing in three stations from the Bangalore Rural district to the city.

This step, according to senior police officers, will help in better policing in the IT corridor that is witnessing increasing crime.

The four new police stations will come up at Electronics City, HSR Layout, Parappana Agrahara and Hulimavu. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Soumendu Mukherjee said they were finalising the posting of staff to the new stations. Temporary police stations were being set up in these places, and buildings were being identified for housing the stations permanently.

Varthur, Kadugodi and Whitefield police stations, which were part of the Bangalore Rural district, are now under the jurisdiction of the city police unit.

In addition to these seven stations, the new division will include Madivala, Koramangala and MICO Layout police stations that were part of the South division and Airport and HAL police stations of the East division. The Southeast division will cover the areas coming under the IT corridor: from the International Technology Park Ltd. (ITPL) in Whitefield to Bannerghatta Road.

Some of the police stations such as Koramangala, Madivala, HAL and MICO Layout have jurisdiction over vast areas, including several villages. This unwieldiness has resulted in poor patrolling in these areas.

The burden on the staff of these police stations would reduce as certain areas from these stations would now come under the jurisdiction of the new police stations.

The unprecedented growth witnessed in the Southeastern parts of the city following the IT revolution has thrown up new challenges for the police in the past few years.

Several software companies, call centres, apartment complexes, residential layouts, multiplex and shopping malls have come up in the IT belt, comprising Madivala, Koramangala, Airport Road, BTM Layout, HSR Layout, Bannerghatta Road, Hosur Road, Sarjapur Road and Whitefield.

With the increase in population, mainly of the affluent, in these areas, cases of robbery, chain snatching and burglary have also gone up.

The police are finding it difficult to patrol the newly developed areas.