TN CM to get bullet proof cars

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
22nd dec 2008
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, will get two bullet-proof cars that are being fabricated at Hyderabad. The Ambassador cars that he currently uses will be replaced by Tata Safari SUVs which are being bullet-proofed by a private firm in Hyderabad.
Sources said that the Tamil Nadu government had opted for an upgrade as the Ambassador cars were found to be “inconvenient”.
“It takes 70 days to bullet-proof a vehicle,” an official said. “They are built according to the standards of the Bureau of Police Research.” The car can withstand fire from revolvers and automatic weapons. The tyres can also withstand firing.
The Medak Ordnance Factory bullet-proofs vehicles but it is loaded to capacity and the government and private citizens are looking to private firms for the job. The police also buys some bullet-proof vehicles directly from automobile firms.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has bullet-proofed his Tata Safari on his own at Real Cars, which is also doing up Mr Karunanidhi’s vehicles.
Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of bulletproofed cars after Jammu and Kashmir; the Police Transport Organisation has around 200 such cars for the Chief Minister and other VIPs.
An IG rank police officer said that the government plans to buy up to six Tata Sumos or Safaris and get them bullet-proofed.