State buys over 3,000 bullet-proof jackets for police

Raipur: With its security forces busy battling the Maoists, the Chhattisgarh government has purchased 3,065 bullet-proof jackets for its police, state Home Minister Nankiran Kanwar told the assembly Tuesday.

The government placed the three separate orders for the jackets in August 2008 and it was supplied between January and July 2010, he said.

Each jacket, weighing 6.3 kg, costs Rs.56,137.50.

The minister, in his written reply to Congress member Shakrajit Nayak, also said that the union home minister had exempted the jacket purchase from customs and excise duty.

In April 2010, Chhattisgarh saw one of the worst rebel attacks on its security forces in which 75 troopers were killed

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IANS