District reorganization: Decades-old Vizag SP office fades into history

Visakhapatnam: Three decades old Visakha Rural Police has faded into history following the reorganization of the Anakapalle and Alluri Sitarama Raju districts.

It may be recalled that the Visakha Rural Police also known as District Police Office (DPO) was set up in Vizag city around three decades ago. The DPO comprised as many as 43 police stations including 10 in Maoists affected areas. Earlier there was a demand for shifting DPO headquarters from Vizag to Narsipatnam.

Now, Visakhapatnam has been split into three districts --Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, and Alluri Sitarama Raju. With the formation of two more districts, DPO lost its prominence. The entire Vizag city now comes under the Visakhapatnam police commissionerate.

DPO-Vizag, headed by the superintendent of police has around 120 staff including civilian employees. A senior police officer said more than 70 percent of the staff of the DPO have been shifted to the Anakapalle district. Gautami Sali has been posted as the first Superintendent of Police. The remaining staff was transferred to Alluri Sitarama Raju district (Paderu). Satish Kumar has been posted as district SP.

Over 3,000 police personnel including 1,000 Armed Reserve police are part of the DPO, Vizag. DPO- Visakhapatnam will have jurisdiction over 37 Mandals. It will have one woman police station (PS), one crime PS, two traffic PS, and two marine police stations apart from the 43 law-and-order police stations.

A senior police officer said B Krishna Rao was the last SP for Vizag Rural. Probably Vizag Rural police, the only office in the region, remained closed following the formation of two districts.

The existing District Police Office in Vizag city may be converted into a regional office for the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) in the coming days.

With Paderu as headquarters, the ASR district gained importance. It is the only district in Andhra Pradesh that is facing Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

The long-pending demand of naming a district after freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju has been finally realized. Alluri has been an icon for tribals. However, most of the Mandals in the ASR district are facing LWE.

Some police personnel said it will be difficult to shuttle daily as Anakapalle district is about 45 km from Vizag city. Paderu does not have family quarters. The field staff cannot shuttle as they have to be available all the time. "For some time, the employees would have to leave behind their families since they will not like to disturb their children's education," said an employee.