Ranger for Maoist hunt left to rust

KOZHIKODE: While the State police is on with the Maoist hunt without nabbing any of the cadres or leaders so far, the four high-tech US made Polaris ‘Ranger Crew 800’ all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) purchased for jungle raids are lying idle and being left to rust at various police stations close to the jungle in northern districts, say sources in the department.

The four vehicles had come along with a package of several communication gadgets, protective equipment; weapons and  anti-sabotage equipment for which the Government had sanctioned Rs 11.5 cr in April, 2013.   

The vehicles were allotted to Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur districts from where incidents of Maoist activity were reported. One has been kept in Thiruvananthapuram.

In Wayanad district, one vehicle is in the Vellamunda police station where it was seldom taken out for forest raids. Police drivers take the Polaris vehicle in Thiruvananthapuram to Kovalam beach to ensure that the mechanical systems are working well.

Wayanad SP Putta Vimaladithya said though the police used the vehicle only once in a while in the district, they were being used frequently elsewhere. The vehicle had increased the mobility of the police team in the jungle, he said.

The vehicle is competent enough to move through tough terrain in jungle zones. Special training on ways to use them was imparted to as many as 12 drivers by the company.

The cost of one vehicle is around Rs 25 lakh, sources said. On the utility of the vehicle, IG North Zone, Dinendra Kashyap, who is heading the Special Task Force constituted for the anti-Maoist hunt said the vehicles were used in raids ever since they were inducted into the force. “We are on with the hunt though we have failed to nab any suspect so far”, he said.