As many as 2,683 policemen and 656 officers took part in Theera Vetta (Coastal Hunt), a 48- hour mock drill, which concluded here on Thursday.
Apart from the coastal police, it comprised huge mobilisation of personnel from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Intelligence Bureau, Directorate General of Lighthouse, and the Departments of Fisheries, Port, Customs and Coastal Shipping, and Inland Water Navigation.
According to Muhammad Yasin, ADGP (Coastal Security), the police team which served as the third line of defence managed to nab as many as eight intruders from the hostile ‘Red Force’, who attempted to enter the State through various sea routes. However, the intruders managed to break the network at two locations and gained entry into the Kerala shore.
The Coastal Hunt forms part of the half yearly coastal security exercise which is conducted in the coastal States of the country in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
To keep a tab along the shoreline and report any suspicious movement, a fleet of 24 boats, including 16 in the 12-tonne category, were deployed along the sea between Kumbala in Kasaragod and Poovar in Thiruvanathapuram, in addition to 148 four-wheelers and 126 two-wheelers. The drill provided an opportunity for members of all the 74 Kadalora Jagratha Samithies to prove their abilities.
