Mock drills keep Ahmedabad cops fighting fit

After conducting mock drills at Indian Institute of Management, the Gateway hotel and Isro on Thursday and Friday, more than 150 National Security Guards (NSG) commandos left the city on Saturday. On their way out of the city, the commandos also took part in a weapons demonstration at police headquarters at Shahibaug apart from visiting Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar.

According to Shamsher Singh, JCP-Special branch, the exercise at the head quarters was aimed to enhance coordination between local police, Anti Terrorist Squad and NSG. "It was a joint exercise to understand the roles of all the three agencies at the time of terror attacks. We wanted to know how we will respond to such situation and what can go wrong during such situation" said Singh.

The joint exercise started at 11 am and ended at 1pm on Friday. During the exercise, NSG also demonstrated the use of their high-end weapons, including fire fighting equipment. More than 300 policemen, 100 senior officials, and 150 NSG commandos took part in the exercise.

The joint operation also included a mock drill, in which, NSG and local police officials conducted a drill to foil a hostage situation of a hijacked bus. "We are constantly getting terror threats, thus it's necessary to know our roles if it actually happens," said Singh.