Mangaluru: Five new places have been selected in the country by the central government to set up rapid action force (RAF) units and Mangaluru has emerged as one of the preferred choices. This will also be the first ever RAF base to be set up in Karnataka.

Currently, RAF is present in Hyderabad, Allahabad, Ahmadabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Aligarh, Jamshedpur, Coimbatore, Bhopal and Meerut. RAF is part of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Along with Mangaluru the other bases selected by the central government this time include Varanasi, Jaipur, Hajipur in Bihar, and Nuh in Haryana. The union government had given its clearance for the creation of five new RAF battalions in the country during January this year. It has now announced the names of places where they would be set up. With these five, the country will have a total of 15 RAF bases.

Uttar Pradhesh state will be having the highest number of RAF bases, with the bases at Meerut, Allahabad, Aligarh and now Varanasi, a total of 4 bases.

The RAF regulates violence and mob rioting. The forces have unique uniform and are specially trained in handling violence and mass trouble. RAF battalions also work along with other forces on humanitarian grounds to tackle situations like earthquake, flood, cyclone and other natural calamities. They are equipped by instruments needed to handle large scale violence like pump action guns, smoke grenades and others.

The commissionerate has not received any information about the above decision, as the negotiations and discussions were held at the government level, informed T R Suresh, Mangaluru City Police Commissioner.