In a mock drill to strengthen coastal security, the Mumbai police succeeded in apprehending boat-borne “terrorists” attempting to bomb a jetty off the Mumbai coast. The operation is a part of the Sagar Kavach exercise, which is carried out once every two months in collaboration with the Coast Guard, Indian Navy and other security agencies. The drill, which began early on Monday morning, will end on Tuesday.
The officers posing as terrorists were part of the Blue Team, while the men tasked with tracking and apprehending them were labelled the Red Team. The Red Team consisted of officers from the Coast Guard. A patrolling boat of the Mumbai police, Mumbai-8, came across a suspicious looking dinghy, Jemini on Monday morning near Butcher Island. “The rubber dingy was intercepted and the four men aboard were detained for questioning. Their leader confessed to have plotted a bomb below jetty number 4. We traced the explosive and diffused it,” said an officer involved in the operation. Coast Guard officer Sanjay Kumar led the Red Team personnel on the boat. The members were later “interrogated” and released after verifying their “documentation”.
Both additional commissioner of police (south region) Krishna Prakash and DCP (port zone) Tanaji Ghadge confirmed the development. “We will hold a review meetings later to identify and correct the shortcomings,” Mr Ghadge said.
A total of 11 potential “landing points” were identified and four nakabandis were held in the South Region (police stations in the island city) of the Mumbai police. The entire operation involved a total of 392 men that included three senior PIs, 13 PIs, three APIs, 10 PSIs, 29 ASI, 320 constables and 14 women constables. Two other attempts were foiled by the Bhima and Indrayani boats of the Mumbai police in which RDX and five Red Team personnel were held.
The drill was also carried out in the coastal districts of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.