After a gap of four years, state police wake up to the need for bulletproof vests that work

After losing its personnel, including senior officers, to bullets of terrorists — some of them allegedly due to inadequate protection — the police force in the state has woken up to the urgent need for bulletproof vests that work.

Now the state police have decided to go in for a fresh supply of bulletproof jackets, significantly after a gap of four years.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Shrickant Tarawade, Assistant Inspector General of Police, said from Mumbai, “I will not give the exact figure or the date for the purchase of bulletproof jackets, but the process has been initiated and we plan to get them by next year. The state police plan to provide these jackets in almost all district police headquarters.”

There is already an increase in demand for bulletproof jackets from various parts of the country at a time when there is severe shortage of raw material required for manufacturing these vests, imported from United States, said Rahul More, proprietor of Dombivili-based agency, Magna Era, leading supplier of bulletproof jackets in this part of the country.

“There was a big demand from police personnel who were procuring them on their own while the terrorist attack on Mumbai was on. In fact there were many members of the media who were in the market for these vests. We cannot meet such demand at short notice as production is done as per projections made on a long-term basis. In other words, bulletproof vests were not available for sale off the shelf,” he said.

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