The ‘terrorists’ were officers of the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy — disguised to perfection with AK-47 assault rifles.
‘Terrorists’ hijacked a trawler off the Mumbai coast, but were apprehended by the coastal police. ‘Terrorists’ disguised as fishermen were ‘arrested’ at the Gateway and at Sassoon Dock. A few more ‘terrorists’ were identified and picked up by the Mumbai police from Madh Island and the JW Marriott at Juhu.
The ‘terrorists’ were officers of the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy — disguised to perfection with AK-47 assault rifles. The cops ‘stalked’ them through the city streets, and coastal police ‘chased’ them in the sea.
It was all part of Sagar Kavach — a 36-hour drill to check the city’s “terror-preparedness”. Starting on Wednesday, it ended on Thursday. The navy, coast guard, coastal police and teams of the Mumbai and Maharashtra police took part in it. Round-the-clock vigilance led to most of the “terror attacks” being foiled, said a senior officer of the Mumbai police. “Many of the ‘terrorists’ were apprehended,” he said.
Infiltration bids from the sea; ship hijacking; attacks on important installations, buildings and public places, such as railway stations, markets, and offices — everything was tried out in the drill.
“This is one of the biggest drills till date, and involved multiple security agencies, like the navy and the coast guard,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (law and order). “It began at 6am on Wednesday, and ended at 6pm on Thursday. It was carried out to check the preparedness of the police and other security agencies in preventing terror attacks.”
Officers of the navy and the coast guard, playing the role of terrorists, started roaming through the city and its coastline since Wednesday morning. The police had to identify and arrest them before they could launch an attack. To ensure that the chasing cops were tested to their fullest, scripts of the mock attacks were kept secret.
Iqbal Shaikh, assistant commissioner of police, Colaba division, said, “Police inspector Prakash Bhoite from our division successfully identified four ‘terrorists’ when they were entering the city through the Gateway jetty. He found equipment, like walkie-talkies, arms and ammunition, in their bags. They had dressed like fishermen, making it very difficult to pick them out.”
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