By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A two-day drill spearheaded by the Indian Navy started off the Orissa coast Wednesday to assess the effectiveness of coastal security, an official said.
The state police, Central Industrial Security Force, port, custom and fisheries officials and private security agencies posted at the ports and industrial establishments are also taking part in the drill.
“It is a simulated drill, wherein the entire security team would be divided into two groups. One is the intruder group and the other one will thwart the attack,” said Commander P.J. Singh of Indian Navy.
The 48-hour exercise would try to thwart an ‘intrusion bid’ from the sea similar to the attack in Mumbai Nov 26, 2008.
Health officials and local fishermen will also take part, to help them learn how to deal with a “real life” situation if such an attack takes place.
“The navy will deploy five ships while the Coast Guard will deploy its interceptor vehicles for this exercise,” Singh said.
The drill will also simulate a hijacking of a ship by one team while the other will try to intercept the hijacked vessel.
The navy has carried out similar drills along the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu coasts earlier.