Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: The next time you find yourself in trouble on a Cuttack street, you can expect your knight in shining armour, er, khaki to reach you in a jiffy and set off a chase, burning the road on swanky motorbikes.

The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police, Cuttack wing, have launched mobile patrolling motorcycles ahead of the festive season when incidents of snatching go up significantly. Cops in Cuttack will now be able to respond to emergency situations in the lanes and by-lanes of the city where police control room (PCR) vans find it hard to reach.

These motorbikes will add to the efficiency of the police in the city where 19 PCR vans are in operation. Inaugurating the initiative, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Cuttack, S. Praveen Kumar said this had been started on a pilot basis.

In the first phase, five PCR motorcycles would be deployed under various police stations in Cuttack.

He said that earlier, PCR vans mainly concentrated on main roads, as they could not enter narrow lanes in various parts of the city.

“Our main target is to deploy the motorbikes around commercial and major business establishments where criminals have been found involved in various loot and cash-snatching incidents,” said Kumar.

“With the introduction of these motorcycles, we hope to put a check on the movements of criminals on high-speed motorcycles with engine power of 225 cc,” he added.

Senior officials said two police constables, equipped with wireless communication sets, would ride each motorcycle.

They would mostly cover core areas and lanes in Cantonment, Lalbagh, Deewan Bazar, Odia Bazar, Badambadi, Malgodown, Mangalabag, Yunuspatna, Purighat and other localities.

“Whenever we get emergency calls on our toll-free traffic helpline introduced last month, we will alert the nearby mobile patrolling motorbike unit. In case of snatching, they will chase the criminals, and for accidents or road blockades, they will try to sort the matter on the spot or inform the police station about the situation,” said an official.

The DCP said the motorcycles would operate eight hours every day. “If it’s a success, we will add more bikes to the present fleet and increase the period of patrolling,” he said.

The introduction of high-speed motorcycles has brought relief to the city residents. “We hope that the new system will certainly help cops to contain anti-social activities and intercept criminals who often escape through narrow lanes on their bikes,” said Kedar Swain, a resident of Buxi Bazar.

These motorcycles were introduced last year in Bhubaneswar.

Ten of these speedy machines are on duty in the state capital along with 33 PCR vans.

They have proved to be quiet efficient in crime control, picking up traffic rule offenders, and responding to emergencies such as accidents or road blockades and law and order situations.

“Traffic rule violators and snatchers fear these PCR motorcycles, as they are caught within a few minutes of committing the crime,” said a constable in charge of one such motorcycle unit.

In May, two motorcycle-borne youths, who were trying to flee after snatching a gold chain from a woman at Pandara on the city outskirts, were caught after a PCR motorcycle chased them for around five kilometres.

“Whenever we get a phone call about a mishap or road blockade, we inform the closest mobile patrolling motorcycle unit that rushes to the spot in no time. If they cannot solve the matter, they report to the PCR and accordingly, more police and PCR vans are sent to the spot,” said a senior officer of the police control room.

These patrolling motorcycles in Bhubaneswar are equipped with automatic vehicle locators enabled with GPS (global positioning system) and GPRS (general packet radio service), unlike the newly launched bikes in Cuttack.

This helps the control room to track these vehicles and instruct them to act upon emergency calls.