Officials say the measures have been taken to make people feel secure and prevent road accidents, which are common during the festive season. During festivals public transport is generally overcrowded leading to accidents. Locals believe the initiative by local administration and police will lead to lesser accidents and check crime.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Pawan Kumar Giri said that during the Dashain and Tihar festivals, police will apart from conducting regular patrols, visit people ´s doors, mobilize special task force, mobile police units, highway ambush force.
Police will visit people´s doors and inform the locals about the contact details of the nearest police post that they can reach in case of need. The special task force will deal with emergencies, apart from escorting VIPs. The mobile police unit will patrol Tansen bazaar, while highway ambush force will be active along the highway at night.
“The highway ambush force will provide security to people, who come back to the district to celebrate the festival, from falling prey to robbers who operate along the highway at night,” said Giri. “Regular patrol and civil police have also been made more active,” he added.
Chief District Officer Janak Raj Regmi hailed the security arrangements by police as exemplary. He said the mobile force, special task force and door-to-door program are experiments initiated by Palpa police to win the trust of the people.
Locals such as Dipen Shrestha of Harthok say the initiatives have already made a difference. On Saturday night, a group that was looting passengers of a night bus at Harthok were arrested by the highway ambush force.
”Highway robbers had never been arrested before,” he said. “Highway robbery cases will decline because the robbers know there is police presence.”
There are about 300 police personnel in the district, which is the lowest among hill districts.
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