Chennai marine police got a rude shock on Thursday when they learnt that a ship was being hijacked.
A police team rushed to the spot and ‘captured’ the ‘criminals’ who had boarded the Geo Hindu Sagar, a petroleum research ship, in the Bay of Bengal.
“We rushed to save the ship and the crew and captured the hijackers while the vessel was in the high seas,” said a police officer.
However, the incident did not raise much hue and cry because the hijack was only a mock drill conducted to check the preparedness of various departments concerned with coastal security.
Similar mock drills were conducted across the state under Operation Hamla II, which saw ‘militants’ targetting 10 places. “We managed to prevent nine breaches but could not stop the one at Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC). The officials were not able to trace the dummy bomb kept in NLC premises,” a senior police official said.
As many as 32 ‘militants’ with ‘deadly arms’ were held in nine places.
Officials noted that the two-day ‘Operation Hamla II ’ conducted in the state has helped understand the preparedness of security officials and facilities available to them.
The Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Coastal Security Group and other intelligence and police teams participated in the operation.