Hubli: Karnataka police will introduce "Electronic (e) Beat", a patrolling system for constables using smart cards and enabled readers in all cities in the State, a top police official said in Hubli today (Oct 8, 2004).

Inaugurating the e-beat patrolling system at over 1,000 selected points in the twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad, S T Ramesh Director General of Police (DGP) told reporters, that the tracking system would soon be extended to all the other cities, next being Mysore.

A pilot has been functioning successfully in Bangalore and based on this the Government has decided to carry it forward, he said. Police constables and head constables would be trained for effective patrolling during night to prevent thefts and robberies, Ramesh said.

Constables on patrol need to place a reader which resembles a mobile phone in front of devices located at specific points that records the time of the police visit, which then can be downloaded on a system by a supervisor.

Besides, night-beat officers, above the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspectors will be given readers resembling mobile phones to record their visit in their respective police station limits. The system is tamper-proof, he said.

As many as 500 police constables and head constables have been trained in the operation, Ramesh added.