The all new coastline watchdogs

The coastal security police has trained 200 fishermen to be their eyes and ears, who will be on a payroll

The all new coastline watchdogs

The coastal security police has trained 200 fishermen to be their eyes and ears, who will be on a payroll

Around 200 fishermen living along the coastline of the state are the watchdogs for the state police to keep a tab on anti-social activities. These fishermen have been trained to keep their eyes and ears open for any suspicious activities and report the same to the coastal security police.

On guard: Several mock drills, named Sagar Kavach have been
conducted in coastal towns to put to test the readiness and alertness of
the coastal security forces and other agencies, namely the Coast Guard,
the Customs and the port authorities. File pic

Superintendent of police MS Saudagar said that the Coastal Security Police (CSP) have formed batches of their trained fishermen to form the Sagar Raksha Dal, and will be on their payrolls. "Since they spend most of their time at sea and live on the seashore, they are the best men to provide intelligence inputs for the police," he said.

Joint training
As part of the program, these fishermen will be trained jointly by Coastal security guards, local police and naval officers on intelligence gathering. A mock drill will be organised to revise the training program once in three months, he said.

Their job would be to keep an eye on new faces coming from the sea route, new ships and other suspicious activities. Every trained personnel has been given a cell number, to tip the local police off.

Mock drills
These fishermen will be constantly in touch with an officer who is in charge of every Raksha Dal. Apart from this, the coastal security police which has around 15 police stations covering the coastal line will be provided with three jetties per station for a regular beat.

"Several mock drills, named Sagar Kavach have been conducted in coastal towns to put to test the readiness and alertness of our coastal security forces and other agencies, namely, the Coast Guard, the Customs and the port authorities. This would help the police to update information on such activities on regular basis," Saudagar explained.

"This has not only helped strengthen the police-public relationship, but has also ensured safety of the costal area in more meaningful manner. This has also proved as a deterrent to many mischievous activities, that were being carried out at the coastal areas," he added.

He recalled a recent incident of how a suspicious vessel was intercepted by the costal police on a tip off. "Though this turned out to be a false alarm, it proved that our coastal security is alert," he added.

Last incident
In last December, M S V Al-Jazeera, a vessel boat was detained near Old Mangalore port on suspicion in the wake of rumours of four terrorists sneaking into the state. The vessel was sailing from Kalpeni in Lakshadweep to Mangalore coast with eight persons were taken into custody.

Upon enquiry it was revealed that the suspects were from Jamnagar, Gujarat, three from Lakshadweep and one from Kerala, and were hired for fishing and other odd jobs by vessel's owner. After enquiry and a thorough search, the police let the vessel go.

15 Number of police stations located near the coastal line which will get jetties for regular checks