Vijayawada to house AP headquarters of Octopus

Anti-terror outfit Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) has always been the pride of Andhra Pradesh. With bifurcation of the State, the AP headquarters of outfit will come up in Vijayawada.

OCTOPUS personnel were previously trained at its centre in Ibrahimpatnam in Ranga Reddy district prior to the bifurcation. However post bifurcation, it became a training centre for the Telangana Octopus although AP commandos continued to train there.

Sources say that the training centre would become operational in the next six months. The campus will be built at a cost of Rs 200 crore.

"The Vijayawada campus of AP Octopus unit and a camp office for the additional director general heading the unit, will come up at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore. It will be expanded subsequently," said sources.

According to police officials, the AP Octopus unit will focus on the coastal security as it is a vulnerable area. As of now, an Octopus unit is posted in Tirumala and it was they who smoked out terror suspects belonging to the Al-Umma outfit from a house at Puttur of Chittoor district in October 2013. Meanwhile, to fight Naxals menace, AP police sent proposals to the State government seeking 800 acres of land for locating the Greyhounds centre either in Visakhapatnam or between Kurnool and Prakasam districts.

However, Visakhapatnam is the first preference. The State government, in turn, has advised the respective district collectors to coordinate with the police in identifying suitable land.

The AP Reorganisation Act has mandated setting up of a separate Greyhound unit for AP, entirely funded by the Centre. The state government has sought Rs 1,200 crore for setting up the unit and is awaiting the nod from the Union home ministry. However, until a separate unit comes up, Telangana and AP police are to share the Greyhound Training Centre at Premavathipet on the outskirts of Hyderabad for the next three years.