Three armed police personnel as decoys were sent into the East Zone of the city police limits on Tuesday evening as part of a special operation drill. The exercise was carried on to test the level of preparedness of the Chennai police in the event of a terror attack or intrusion of armed suspects.
Police said around 6.30 p.m. police personnel were sent in cars to Nungambakkam, Santhome and Chetpet. Teams in all districts in the east were alerted on the intrusion of ‘terrorists' with weapons.
Checkposts were erected swiftly and all vehicles were thoroughly checked. Around 7 p.m., a car with one of the armed decoys was intercepted on Josier Street in Nungambbakam and the man was apprehended.
Similarly, the vehicle that attempted to zip past a checkpost under the Santhome police limits was boxed in by a police team and the person inside the car was held. However, the vehicle that was sent into the Chetpet police limits managed to evade the posse of policemen, sources said.
Commissioner of Police J.K. Tripathy put the success rate of the operation at 85 per cent.
“I am happy that most of the intruders were successfully intercepted. We are working towards achieving a 100 per cent success rate. To start with, the drill was organised in the East Zone…this will be a continuing process,” he told TheHindu .
Surveillance, vehicle checks and round-the-clock patrolling in vulnerable areas were intensified after armed robbers struck two nationalised banks in the city recently. The drill was organised along the lines of ‘Operation Barricade', Operation Hamla and ‘Operation Rakshak' held in recent months in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, the sources said.
