Fending off a ‘terror attack’

Metro intervention training programme organised as part of the counter-terrorism drill

December 20, 2015 08:13 am | Updated 11:36 am IST - CHENNAI:

With MP5 guns in their hands and pistols in their holsters, over 100 well-trained NSG commandos were deployed at Alandur Metro station.

With MP5 guns in their hands and pistols in their holsters, over 100 well-trained NSG commandos were deployed at Alandur Metro station.

Around 11 a.m. on Friday, a train packed with passengers waiting to leave the Alandur station was ‘hijacked’ by terrorists.

In the next few minutes, gun-wielding men, dressed in black, arrive at the station and through a well-planned ‘operation’ that lasts two hours, nab the terrorists and free the hostages.

If you thought this was a scene from a movie, you would be way off the mark. This was part of a drill organised by the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos in coordination with Chennai Metro Rail Corporation and the city and state police.

“It is known as a Metro intervention training programme organised as part of the counter terrorism drill. It is conducted across all the Metro Rail stations in the country. This is the first time it was conducted here,” said a senior Chennai Metro Rail official.

With MP5 guns in their hands and pistols in their holsters, over 100 well-trained NSG men were all over the station. They were led by Major N. Praveen Kumar of NSG along with his team of officers and 100 commandos.

Coordination levels “It was a training to assess the level of co-ordination between all the agencies that could be expected in the event of an emergency. Right from the security personnel at the station to the NSG commandos, every one had a role to play,” said the official.

A train was brought to the station just for the drill.

“There were no passengers in it. The commandos themselves acted as passengers and terrorists. They were seen crawling beneath trains to take the terrorists by surprise,” an official added.

For the many bystanders, including police constables, watching NSG commandos in action was an exciting experience.

“During the Mumabi attacks, we saw them on television as they slid down from helicopters. It was more exciting to see them in action here, at close quarters,” said a police officer.

N. K. Senthamaraikannan, IPS, Inspector General of Police (Operations), Thiru Santhosh Kumar, IPS., SP, Commando Force,Thiru K. Sajith Kumar, SP, Commando Force, Thiru G. Ramar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Security, Chennai Police and other officers of CMRL were present during the operation.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.