A comprehensive coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ to assess the preparedness of the police and other security agencies in the event of a terror attack began on Wednesday morning.
The State-wide two-day exercise was conducted by the State police and Indian Coast Guard. The objective is to provide seamless seaward cover along the coast jointly by all security agencies from coastal belt area line to the limit of territorial waters at 12 nautical miles.
The exercise will also assess the effectiveness of coastal fishing community in serving as “eye and ears” for early warning of seaward threat.
In Chennai, the exercise was supervised by City Police Commissioner A.K.Viswanathan. Following his instructions, teams under Deputy Commissioners conducted searches in places where a large number of people gather besides intensified patrolling.
In the exercise, alertness and preparedness of all the stakeholders, including the public, were tested. “This exercise provides all stakeholders an opportunity to fine-tune standard operating procedure and evolve new operation concepts for coastal security,” said a senior police officer.
During this exercise, 11 decoys who infiltrated as terrorists were nabbed. In the first operation, around 8 a.m., a team led by Shastri Nagar Police Inspector rounded up three persons who came in a boat and attempted to land at Olcott Kuppam. Later, the team realised that they were decoys sent by the operation team. In the second operation, another team led by Joint Commissioner of Police (East) Manoharan apprehended three persons who tried to enter the office of the Director General of Police.
