Security forces gear up to crack down on terror strikes

PANAJI: The third joint coastal security exercise "Sagar Kavach"-involving the Navy, coastal police, and central and the state security agencies-to check preparedness in terror situations, began successfully on Thursday morning, albeit leading to major traffic jams at several busy places during peak hours.
Besides affecting several office-goers, the jam also inconvenienced school children who are in the midst of their mid-term examinations."We were stuck for almost an hour in Porvorim. I thought my child wouldn't make it to school on time to answer his mid-term exams. Adequate arrangements need to be made to ensure that the common man is not inconvenienced," said an upset parent.
Apologizing for the disarray caused on account of the nakabandis during the exercise, Goa police spokesperson Atmaram Deshpande said, "We request people to cooperate as these exercises are being conducted for better preparedness against any terrorist attack. Terrorists will never strike at a fixed time. They can attack anytime and we need to be prepared".
On Thursday at 6am, a message was flashed by the Goa police that 'red force' men have infiltrated Goa and would be targeting a temple, a five star hotel and a church. The task for the security agencies was to apprehend the terrorists before they could strike their targets.
"The police, Navy, Coast Guard, and hotel security staff were alerted, and the men flung into action. The 'terror suspects' were caught within few hours," official sources said.
According to officials, the main purpose of the exercise was to enhance synergy of security agencies at sea and on land, and to test the efficiency and validation of the standard operating procedure. Various mock drills and situations were injected to test the joint response of the forces against offensive actions spread over the sea and land, said sources.
"The effort put in by all stake holders would strengthen the surveillance, detection and identifications of enemy forces, communication network and security measures. The exercise would be analyzed to improve the coastal security system," said sources.
"Though the earlier two mock operations were also successful, we had identified certain lacunae which needed to be fixed. Such exercises also ensure better coordination among various agencies and improves response time," security sources added.