Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the presence of Director General of Police Jaspal Singh, IPS flagged off two bullet-proof cars on Wednesday for the use of VVIPs and VIPs during their visit to the State.
Photo Credits: Narayan Pissurlenkar
PANAJI
Goa Police will no longer depend on its neighbouring states for bullet-proof vehicles during VVIP and VIP movement as two vehicles were inducted in the force on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant flagged-off the Toyota Fortuners at Police Headquarters. The high-end vehicles were sent to IIT Mumbai for its retro-fitting with bullet-proofing.
“We don’t have to borrow bulletproof from the other states now, because we have launched two such vehicles for VIP movement in the State,” CM Sawant said in the presence of Director General of Police Jaspal Singh and other senior officers.
The project, which was conceived by the DGP Mukesh Kumar Meena in 2020, was approved for retrofitting into bullet-resistant ones by the Sawant-led cabinet in August 2021. The department procured two Fortuners at an approx. cost of Rs 1.5 crores and thereafter sent for bulletproof outfitting after financial sanction of Rs 65 lakh approx.
In the past, bulletproof vehicles were sourced from security agencies from Karnataka and Maharashtra to facilitate the safe movement of VIPs and VVIPs arriving in the coastal state.
Meanwhile, the CM also launched a manual of Goa Police’s Special Branch and a coffee table book besides distributing laptops for women police stations.
In his short interaction with the media, Sawant reiterated that Goa Police’s detection rate is the highest in the country. The government, he added, has been providing every support needed for regular upgradation of the police stations
