According to a report by CAG, the state's other special police forces, such as Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and Anti-Sabotage Check units are neither requisitely upskilled to the optimum level where their services can be employed.Several reports have claimed that Karnataka has become a safe haven for terrorists majorly because of the lack of modern equipment, specifically rifles.
The latest statement by CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India), seems to have dropped a bomb on Karnataka police. CAG quoted that Karnataka police are not properly equipped with modern weapons to fight terrorists.
Several reports have claimed that Karnataka has become a safe haven for terrorists majorly because of the lack of modern equipment, specifically rifles.
A time where self-loading rifles have become history, the state police personnel are laboured to comb the Western Ghats without state-of-the-art weapons.
They are also forced to carry the analogue walkie-talkies and wireless connectivity sets which have reduced to child's play for a decade. The government is to be blamed for the incapability of the SWAT teams of the state.
According to a report by CAG, the state's other special police forces, such as Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and Anti-Sabotage Check units are neither requisitely upskilled to the optimum level where their services can be employed.
Shankar Bidari, former DGP of Karnataka, told My Nation that there was a “huge gap” between demand and supply of arms.
"The arms and ammunition are usually purchased by the central government through designated units. Currently, there is a huge gap between the demand and the supply of the arms and ammunition as the payments are not being made regularly by the government. CAG has made the observation with the right intent. However, I feel that it will make any difference in the current situation as the problem exists uniformly across the nation," Bidari said.
On 25 July 2008, Bengaluru was rocked by serial blasts. After this, Karnataka Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) was formed and the expectations of citizens were high but nothing substantial has been heard from ATS so far.
Karnataka's capital, Bengaluru, due to its cosmopolitan nature and huge potential with the never-ending influx of people from different pockets of the nation, has shaped into a safe destination for all the anti-national elements. It is high time that the Karnataka police units are equipped with advanced weapons to combat the grave danger that may be lurking.
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