Jalpaiguri: District police are in the process of preparing a proposal to trisect the jurisdiction of Kotwali police station here and upgrade two police outposts on the outskirts of the town to full-fledged police stations.

The proposal is being worked out as once the circuit bench of Calcutta High Court starts functioning in Jalpaiguri, the workload on the police station will increase with senior members and officials of the judiciary and more people visiting the town every day.

"We are readying the proposal so that two more police stations can be set up on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town. This will reduce the area of Kotwali police station and will help in better management of law and order and traffic in the town. The proposal would be sent to the state home department soon," said Amitabha Maiti, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri.

Sources have said now, two police outposts, in Manikganj and Bodaganj, are under the Kotwali police station.

While Manikganj is close to the India-Bangladesh border at the southern end of Jalpaiguri district and under the Sadar block, Bodaganj is at the north-eastern end of the district under the same block.

As of now, the entire Jalpaiguri town ( with 25 wards), the Sadar block and stretches of NH31D are under the jurisdiction of Kotwali police station. This covers 14 panchayats and a municipality with a population of over 4.50 lakh and an area of 503.2sqkm.

Among these, four panchayats - Dakshin Berubari, Kharija Berubari 1 & 2 and Nagar Berubari - are under the Manikganj police outpost now. "The total population of the four panchayats is around 70,000. Two more panchayats, Nandanpur-Boalmari and Garalbari, should be included in the area of the proposed police station in Manikganj, that would then have a population of over one lakh," said a source.

In a similar manner, it would be proposed that the panchayats of Paharpur, Patkata, Baropatia-Natunbos and Belakoba, should be under the jurisdiction of Bodaganj police stations.

"The police stations would have senior sub-inspectors as officer-in-charge, along with police personnel of subordinate ranks. Once these police stations are formed, the Kotwali police station would have the Jalpaiguri town and four adjoining panchayats under its jurisdiction," the source added.

The population under Kotwali will then come down to around 2.9 lakh, making it convenient for police personnel posted at the police station.

"Once the circuit bench starts functioning, the inflow of people and traffic would increase across the town as people from across north Bengal will be visiting Jalpaiguri. Also, Justices of Calcutta High Court and senior officials who would be posted at the bench will stay in the town, which means the police will have to be vigilant and will have to depute more security men. Considering these factors, it is necessary to restructure the jurisdiction of the police station of Jalpaiguri town," said Gautam Pal, the vice-president of the Jalpaiguri Bar Association.

Police sources said the proposal would be sent soon.

"We hope it would be approved by the state so that we can take up works like infrastructure development of the outposts," said an official.