48-hr mock drill Operation Kavachh starts in Gujarat

Surat, Oct 31 : Taking seriously the terrorists threat of possible intrusion in the state, a special 48-hour mock drill named Operation Kavachh has been launched in coastal villages of south Gujarat to review and strengthen the security forces.

Gujarat Police, Coast Guard, Marine Police and other paramilitary forces (Central and State) joined the exercise, which began yesterday covering the entire coastal belt of south Gujarat (Navsari, Valsad, Surat, Daman and Diu).

With intelligent inputs that terrorists could use the Gujarat coastal belt to enter the country, the state administration has been on high alert, beefing up the security at many places.

Since last morning state police officials along with other forces, cordoned all sensitive points in the region and began their exercise, which continued till late evening.

As a part of the mock drill, security personnel conducted checks in the villages and sea coast, searched houses, inspected entry and exit points of villages, interrogated local residents and checked vehicles.

They also conducted marine and highway patrolling during the exercise, while asking fishermen to forward details about any suspected movements in the area.

To make it more realistic, security personnel even arrested three people from Dandi village in Navsari district. They were taken to Jalalpore police station from where they were released.

''Operation Kavachh was performed as per inputs from intelligence. It will continue on Saturday too. The entire exercise is successful and we have learned a lot from it,'' Shivanand Jha, Police Commissioner of Surat, said.

Villagers of coastal villages were surprised and shocked with the unexpected mock drill. They believed that exercise was being performed to nab terrorists, who have entered their area. The myth was broken after cops revealed the truth to villagers.

''Security personnel cordoned our entire village and began search operation and when they arrested three people, we thought they might be terrorists. We were extremely frightened and some even alerted other villages in the area. Later top officials explained us the truth. It is a great relief that entire activity was a mock drill,'' Ganpat Tandel, a resident of Dandi village, said.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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