Maharashtra plans unit to tackle bio-nuclear weapons

Mumbai, Jan 21 : With a view to tackling future terror challenges, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil Thursday directed the state police to set up a specialised unit to tackle nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons.

At a high level security review meeting held in Mantralaya Thursday evening, Patil told the police department to submit a proposal for setting up the NBC unit.

The home minister took an overview of the progress of the elite Force One, the training of its commandos, their preparedness to tackle any terror attacks and other aspects.

He was informed that the Force One commandoes could be operational within 10 minutes and that they had recently acquired specialised training in Tamil Nadu.

The minister said the home department would prepare a programme to send abroad top officials requiring sophisticated training to meet future contingencies.

Following the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks, the state set up Quick Response Teams (QRTs) by rushing to counter such eventualities in the shortest possible time.

At present, there are 17 such QRTs stationed in Mumbai and similar units are being set up in Thane, Pune, Aurangabad and the state's second capital city Nagpur.

Among the officials who attended the security review meeting were Additonal Chief Secretary (Home) Chandra Iyengar, Director General of Police A.N. Roy, Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Shivanandan, Anti-Terrorist Squad chief K.P Raghuvanshi, state Intelligence Bureau chief K.L. Prasad, Force One chief S. Jagannathan and Coastal Security chief Parambir Singh.