Just two days before the first anniversary of 26/11, Mumbai got it’s brand new anti-terror outfit, Force One. Of over 3,000 applications received from the State’s policemen, 500 were selected after a rigorous process, and after six months training, 216 commandos made the grade.
Trained on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG), they need only three seconds to draw out a revolver, cock it and fire six bullets. Force One takes 15 minutes to get ready and respond to a terror strike. It has an array of AK-47s, MP5 and Glock pistols, apart from shotguns, underbarrel grenade launchers, breeching equipment and explosives at its disposal.
As far as the Mumbai police are concerned, there are 39 assault teams, one in each division equipped with AK-47s, which will be the first to respond to a terror attack. The QRTs will be the second line of response with their sophisticated arms. Mumbai alone has about 1,500 trained personnel. Force One will come in next. While the NSG has a regional hub in Mumbai, Force One is expected to be part of the initial response to a terror strike. Coastal security has also been upped with 12 police stations along the shore and the introduction of “Sealegs,” an amphibian vehicle.
From bulletproof jeeps and boats to state-of-the-art weapons, QRTs, an NSG hub, a refurbished bomb squad, 39 combat vehicles with 586 men, and amphibians, apart from 500 new beat marshals, an alert citizen hotline, a coastal security unit — the list is endless.
“The new Standard Operating Procedure has been tested a few times and the 43,000 officers and men of Mumbai are ready for anything,” the Mumbai Police Commissioner points out. “Our response from now will be well rehearsed and better calibrated.”
(Adapted from an article in The Hindu)
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