Coimbatore policewomen take on new challenging roles

Coimbatore’s policewomen maintain weapons at the Armoury, handle sniffer dogs, drive heavy duty vehicles, and are a part of the police commissioner’s striking force

A young girl armed with a shovel holding her father’s hand as they set out for farming somewhere in a village near Tirunelveli is a vivid childhood memory for J Jebasheela. She is one of the first women cops from Tamil Nadu Police to work at the Armoury Workshop that repairs and maintains police arms and ammunitions. “I joined the service in 2008 and when this opportunity came up, showed my willingness and here I am,” says Jebasheela adding that one has to pick the right tools while working with weapons. “I took this up as a challenge to motivate other women. I always believe that action speaks louder than words. I prepared myself physically and mentally as initially even lifting guns was difficult because of the weight. If you are confident, you can even lift a mountain,” she says, beaming.

Her team-mate J Indumathi shows off her tough palm. “My fingers are no longer nimble after routinely drilling and polishing weapons,” she says. Indumathi, who joined the TN police force in 2009, was primarily on escort and guard duty with the Armed Reserve from 2014. “In battalion training, I have learnt about as many as eight weapons. On escort duty, we mostly use bolt action guns. Here, there are more than 20 types of guns including automatic, semi-automatic ones, AK 47s, pistols, and 380 revolvers. My knowledge has grown,” explains Indumathi.

To become an armourer, they have to complete another level of training at RC Police Parade Ground in Avadi, Chennai. “It will give them the confidence to work with any weapon as they are keen to learn more,” says S Xavier, Armory SI who has been with the Armory Workshop from 1998. “We handle 1800 guns of different kinds that covers police stations, reserved police platoons, and central prison. We have to service the weapons and keep them ready for routine inspections and also take part in the Annual Target Practice where over 2,000 policemen take part in rifle shooting. Attention to detail is important in our job especially while dismantling, barrel cleaning, and drilling. Our primary work is make the gun work again when there is stoppage. Guns weigh from one kilogram to 10 kilograms. For example, you need two people to carry the Light Maintenance Gun, an indigenous weapon,” explains Xavier. 

While 2023 marked the golden jubilee celebrations of the state police’s women’s wing that has come a long way since the first batch where one sub-inspector and 20 other personnel were inducted in 1973, the equality project, an initiative of the City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan IPS aims at gender equality in all departments. “We encourage women to take up duties traditionally associated with men. In my striking force team, I have included three women,” says Balakrishnan adding that heavy vehicle driving is another role conventionally associated with policemen.

They took a list of women cops interested in heavy vehicle driving and trained them. “Now, we have six policewomen in heavy vehicle training,” says K Govindaraju, Inspector of Police, Motor Transport and Armed Reserve. On a sunny morning, we hop on to a bus at Police Recruit Ground campus and a team of six women — S Manisha, A Selvarani, S Sharmila, K Kalaiselvi, V Jayanthi and V Divya — take charge. “During my school days, I watched in awe the way the bus driver manoeuvred the heavy vehicle. When I first sat on the driver’s seat of a bus, I felt confident. Women now fly planes and drive trains. There is nothing stopping us,” says Jayanthi echoing the collective statement of her team as she brings the vehicle to a halt. “Most women are happy and want to continue in their new roles. I got the idea when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister took women in the CM security squad,” adds the Commissioner.

In another first for Tamil Nadu, two women cops — P Bhavani and S Kavipriya — have been appointed as sniffer dog handlers. Constables Kavipriya and Bhavani, saw an opportunity to spend more time with dogs. The Detective Dog Squad and Dog Training Centre has allotted Labrador pup Iyan to Bhavani and Aadhan, a Doberman to Kavipriya. While Iyan can sniff explosives, Aadhan can pick up and follow scents at crime scenes. “When I learnt that no women police personnel have entered this field in the last 50 years, I grabbed the chance. There are set instructions and guidelines to follow with police dogs,” says Kavipriya adding that they have accompanied the squad for several murder cases and theft cases.

Bhavani, who is also attached to the Armed Reserve, says their mentors S Ambalavanan, SSI-explosives instructor, R Rajesh Babu, SSI-crime instructor, and M Balamurugan, head constable, hand-hold them starting with the basics of feeding the pup to learning the commands. Ambalavanan calls women joining the dog squad a milestone. “ They are making steady progress. We have as many as 10 dogs that are trained to sniff explosives, narcotics, and scents at crime scenes.” Adds Bhavani, “What matters is interest and willingness to work hard. More women should join any department of their interest with confidence.”