KATHMANDU, April 13: Inspector General of Police Ramesh Chanda Thakuri said on Monday that they have decided to deploy additional police personnel and strengthen existing police units in 10 various hill districts in the eastern part of the country. [break]
The decision comes in the wake of underground armed outfits like the Kirant Janawadi Workers and Limbuwan groups intensifying their activities in those restive districts in recent months.
“We are preparing to strengthen existing police units in the upper Kirant and Limbuwan districts in view of possible security threats there,” said Thakuri in his first news conference after assuming the post of police chief on February 17.
He said that the police units currently stationed in those districts are poorly manned and they could targeted by armed groups active in the region. He added that the new measures would be effective in helping to contain their activities.
The restive districts in the region include Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Panchthar, Terhathum, Ilam, Bhojpur, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Udayapur and Dhankuta.
Thakuri said that he is coordinating with the Home Ministry for necessary logistics and additional police personnel to be deployed there.
An unidentified group had attacked a poorly-manned police outpost in Pyuthan district in western Nepal in February, looting all 10 weapons there after killing a police constable and leaving others severely injured.
Police officials are apprehensive that these poorly-equipped police units might fall prey to armed groups though there is a lull in their activities now due to negotiations with the government.
Addressing the press conference, Thakuri also said that the special security measures being adopted in restive tarai districts would be given continuity. “The special security measures adopted in Tarai districts have so far yielded positive results,” he said.
The Home Ministry had adopted special security measures in the troubled Tarai districts on the eve of the Constituent Assembly election on April 10, 2008.
Over three dozens armed groups are operating in the various 10 districts in the eastern and central Tarai from Saptari in the east to Parsa. These armed groups have been engaged in criminal activities including killings, kidnappings and extortion, forcing the general public to live in constant fear.
At the press conference, Thakuri unveiled his strategies for strengthening the police organization, improving law and order, promoting human rights, regaining people´s confidence in the police and ensuring rule of law in the country. He said that his priority would be to boost the morale of police personnel in the field.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
