Mangalore: Commandos, police counter 'terror attack' in city!
Pics: Ramesh Pandith
Daijworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Nov 8: The Pandeshwar area here witnessed a flurry of activity on Friday November 8 as the commandos of the Garuda Force, under the Centre for Counter-Terrorism (CCT), Bangalore organized a mock drill to test the city's readiness and capability to handle a terror attack and other emergencies.
The skilled commandos demonstrated various life-saving techniques, including handling hostage situations and providing instant medical care to victims of a terror attack, and countering enemies.
As part of the demo, two 'terrorists' held three persons hostage in an under-construction building, one among whom was 'shot down' by the commandos with the help of police and the other was 'injured'. The commandos enacted a situation wherein the 'terrorists' demanded a ransom of Rs 10 crore and the release of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal who has been arrested by the NIA, in exchange for the captives.
The police led by IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy arrived, and the hostages were then 'rescued' by the commandos. All the while, school children watched the action-filled drill with awe and wonder marking their curious faces. They were also accompanied by equally interested mediapersons and locals.
Later at a programme held at Rosario hall, the IGP spoke to mediapersons and said that the Garuda force under the CCT, headquartered in Bangalore has 106 trained commandos and has been training police personnel in the state to handle emergency situations. Over the last three days commandos from the capital city have been holding a workshop for 75 police personnel under the western range, he said.
He further said that the local police will be trained to respond quickly to emergency situation in the district, including a terror attack or any other armed attack, and will be given special training in handling weapons, explosives, first aid, obtaining information, negotiation tactics, communication and so on.