A CISF jawan checks the ticket of a visitor to Bokaro zoo on Tuesday. The park is one of the many places where security will be strengthened. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro Steel has teamed up with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to train 407 Home Guard personnel, inducted into the PSU major to guard its vital installations, for transforming them into an elite security force.

Deputy inspector-general of CISF Vinaytosh Mishra told The Telegraph on Tuesday that the personnel would be armed with high-tech equipment, including communication gadgets, after the training that would begin by this year-end. The vital installations that the personnel would guard in the near future include the administrative offices, Bokaro General Hospital, Jawaharlal Nehru Biological Park, Bokaro aerodrome, Steel Authority of India Limited’s (SAIL) official guest house Bokaro Niwas, Mishra added.

“We need to rise to the challenges in the wake of deteriorating law and order situation in the district. Such trainings will help strengthen security at the township and the Bokaro Steel’s units located in the areas deemed sensitive,” he said.

Scaling up of security on the plant premises has become necessary after the recent attack on SAIL trainees by youths, whose families were displaced during the establishment of the steel major. The Home Guard staff put up a brave front against the assailants, before the district police took control of the situation. Similar attacks were also reported earlier on Bokaro Steel’s property.

“Besides, inputs from the Intelligence Bureau have suggested that Bokaro Steel’s units featured on the hit list of insurgents, including Maoists who often orchestrated the attacks under the garb of ‘people from displaced families’, Mishra added.

During his recent visit to the Bokaro steel city, director general of CISF Arvind Ranjan also said it was the need of the hour to beef up security in the sensitive zones and asked the paramilitary forces to train the Home Guard staff.

According to the agreement between the CISF and plant management, workshops for the personnel would be held on a regular basis. Besides, close circuit television cameras (CCTV) would be put in place in areas dubbed sensitive to aid the jawans, sources said.

Bokaro General Hospital has been reported vulnerable on the law and order front as people often resort to violence and arson, accusing the medicos of negligence in case of any deaths. Hence, around a dozen CCTV cameras will be installed on the hospital premises by this year-end.

Similar arrangements would be made elsewhere, sources added.

Chief of security Bokaro steel plant Sanjay Tewary also commended the Home Guard for their service, betting big on their increased efficiency once the training was completed.