Protecting the coastline: ‘Terrorists’ captured during mock drill

According to an official from the Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group, a team of 10 members from the Tamil Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and Tamil Nadu Commando Force came as ‘terrorists’ to infiltrate into the country through the Karaikal and Nagapattinam coasts and carry out ‘attacks’ in towns. However, the coast guard and Karaikal marine police thwarted their entry. 

The exercise saw the use of dummy grenades, pistols and RDX. Four coast guard and two navy officials hurled the ‘grenades’ when the coastal security group approached them after Q-branch, the intelligence agency, had given them inputs mid sea. 

Those who carried out the Sagar Kavach exercise also alerted the fishermen, telling them to look out for any suspicious entry of boats and people and how to handle a situation that could be potentially dangerous. 

An official told the fishermen that if they saw a stray boat coming towards the coast, it could be identified easily. But here, the idea was to send in men when fishing activities were going on and checking whether they were being intercepted. In the meantime, the officials also conducted a simultaneous check with the fishermen on whether they carried their ID cards and their boats were properly registered. The drill will end by 6 pm on Thursday.