Madurai: Madras high court has closed a plea which sought to construct a high rise compound wall around the police shooting range at Poovani village near Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district.
Petitioner P Ramasubbu, a resident of Srivilliputhur, cited an incident where a 11-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet from the Narthamalai police firing range in Pudukottai last December to support his demand. In his counter, Virudhunagar district superintendent of police (SP) stated that the shooting range has been functioning at the present location from 1965. The training session is being carried out for the past 57 years following proper and adequate safety measures and no untoward incidents were reported till date.
He said that necessary arrangements such as hosting red flags and sounding bugle towards the locality on the periphery to prevent movements of people in the shooting range are made before the firing session commences.
There are no residential houses located within 1km radius of the shooting range and Poovani village is situated exactly a kilometre away. There is also no movement of wild animals near the range. Though Madurai-Kollam national highway runs near the shooting range, the firing happens in the opposite direction facing the foothills of Western Ghats. Thus, no harm would be caused to people travelling on the highways, said the SP. Recording the submissions, a division bench of Justices P N Prakash and R Vijayakumar closed the public interest litigation.
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