MUMBAI/NANDED: The Maharashtra government would soon send select teams of policemen to Israel, United Kingdom, China and some other European countries for training in tackling terrorism, said state Home Minister Jayant Patil, while delivering 207 high-tech vehicles to the south Mumbai police in Mumbai yesterday.
The policemen would receive training in combating terrorists as well as the use of modern arms and ammunitions. Apart from this, some senior police officers would also join them and receive training in how to handle law and order situation and how to control and tackle terrorist activities, Patil said.
Patil also disclosed that in view of the frequent traffic blockade in several areas in Mumbai, where it has become difficult to reach terror spots immediately, the government was considering to purchase a helicopter so that police could reach the troubled spot immediately without getting bogged down in traffic jams. The helicopter could also be utilized for patrolling in the suburbs of Mumbai. Patil also said that the police were given the high-tech vehicles which can reach the incident spots at fast speed.
The home minister further said that he has ordered the Mumbai police commissioner to deploy armed cavalry policemen at thickly crowded areas, like Azad Maidan and Dadar Chowpatty, where large crowds assemble. As a future plan, additional 100 sniffer dogs would be added in the Bomb Detection and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDDS) which would further strengthen it, he added.
Meanwhile, new Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Shivanandan recently stated that there was a threat that terrorists might launch an air attack on Mumbai. However, refuting the police chief's claim, Patil said that the government has not received any such information so far from the federal or state intelligence agencies. He said that the modernization plans of equipping the state police with latest high-tech weapons were being expedited to fight any terrorism act.
In another development, renowned social activist Anna Hazare slammed the Congress party-led Democratic Front government in Maharashtra for its dissatisfactory functioning and corruption and suggested that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be brought under the president's jurisdiction and supervision as also the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should be brought under the control of the state Governor to avoid corruption.
Speaking to journalists in Nanded yesterday, Hazare alleged that corruption has increased immensely in almost every sector in the state, and people were finding it difficult to live in such circumstances with no one bother to listen to their concern. Criticizing state Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Hazare alleged that there was sever water crunch in Chavan's hometown and that his government was not functioning properly.
