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Airport cops get AK rifles

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Neeraj Chauhan Posted: Dec 04, 2008 at 0037 hrs IST
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New Delhi: Wary of a Terror attack in Delhi, the city police have armed its men guarding the airport with AK-47 rifles.

The airport’s security got a leg up after the Gujarat police warned its Delhi counterparts that the airport might be a possible target.

Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal has also put commandos at strategic locations in the city to be on guard for the next few months.

At the airport, all sub-inspectors, head constables and constables have the big gun and the brief from above is to remain alert round the clock. A senior official said the commandos are helping out wherever they can.

Police sources said the Delhi airport is under constant watch of three police stations — IGI, Palam and Mahipalpur, with 150 officers in each.

There are more than 1,200 commandoes in the Delhi Police, sources said, and they are all on duty — in the markets, police headquarters, rail stations, in the Lutyens’ zone and five-star hotels. Several officers in the districts too are now armed with the AK-47 or SLR rifles.

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The city’s police officers are used to 9mm pistols, 3.3-bore rifles, SLRs and the Insas rifle for general security while constables only carry a baton.

Apart from the sophisticated guns, the police have also ordered for 130 new vans. These would be Chevrolet Taveras, and are expected soon. Bulletproof jackets have also been provided to officers.

A senior official said, “Terrorists use sophisticated weapons. We have to fend them off in minutes in case of an attack and therefore need the right ammunition.”

The Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and Anti Sabotage Teams (ASTs) have also been stationed at the airport and other important places, sources said.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the paramilitary agency in charge of security in the airport premises, does its own patrolling inside. Armed with sniffer dogs and

bomb squads, nearly 2,200 personnel are on duty. From outside, the airport is under the charge of the Delhi Police.

For the security of prominent people and important installations in the city, the commandos of the Special Protection Group (SPG) are being assisted by the Delhi Police. Information is being shared by the minute.

The security unit of Delhi Police, consisting of some 8,000 officers including 250 well-trained commandos, has also been made part of these elaborate arrangements at vulnerable places. These commandos carry AK-47 rifles, MP 5 guns and a very small and sophisticated pocket pistol.

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View all Messages [ 10 ]
Pathetic preparations by Ramesh kumar on 2008-12-04 23:54:27.979803+05:30
Why wasn't this done before? And these are reactive measures, this government has totally failed on both preventing, reacting, and executing (Afzal) the terrorists.
Good preparations by Manish Joddar on 2008-12-04 19:25:26.455207+05:30
Hope there are no more attacks
We Need Change ! by Rajesh on 2008-12-04 16:45:07.138102+05:30
Our country is facing many challenges on almost every front economic and security to name a few. How do we really start addressing these challenges? Well, I believe the place to start would be to wholesale dumping of all the current political parties and politicians. We need a new generation of leaders with totally different set of mindset to improve Indias over all profile. Just my 2 cents ! Jai Hind !
Mumbai Cops by S khanna on 2008-12-04 15:26:42.434324+05:30
If you take a look at the average cop in Mumbai, he looks completely unfit, with a pot belly and a 303 rifle at his side.Giving him an AK 47 will not change anything. Training should be constant and rigourous to be able to challenge determined islamic terrorists.
why delhi by Ashutosh V Divecha on 2008-12-04 15:14:32.885147+05:30
Why does everything comes to Delhi first ? simple, due to VVIP's there........AK47 for the rest of the country will be in the next five year plan..... good keep it up
bullet proof vests by Rajesh on 2008-12-04 14:56:35.930959+05:30
May be the police should first try out their AK 47's on their on 'so-called' bullet proof jackets provided by the government. It wont be surprising if those jackets fail as we have seen during the last weeks. What a shame! My heart goes for those brave officers who are cheated by the authorities.
        
Bullet proof vests for air travelers too
by Snigdha on 2008-12-05 01:06:55.414331+05:30
It seems to me that airport personnel and passengers should also be equipped with bullet proof vests and protective head gear so that they are not slaughtered in the cross-fire.We need a strong intelligence and tight security - air, water and land. Our boredres are highly porous and we have too many people who are easily bought.
good by digvijay on 2008-12-04 11:30:48.784027+05:30
Good initiatives. keep it up
Suggestion by M. Y. Imran on 2008-12-04 11:11:36.470938+05:30
If Y S Dadwal's effort is believed and physically visible in Delhi, then it is a good step. Our Police Officers / Guards should use high quality weapons and bullet proof jackets and not like Mumbai ATS's filmsy bullet proof jackets which were failed in the attack and Hemant Karkare was assassinated in a few minutes of attack.Also, in our intelligence agency the Govt. of India MUST consider employing all community members i.e. multi-religion people in order to balanced the QRTs, ASTs, ATSs etc. This is my sincere suggestion and it is upto the government to think and implement. If we employ multi-religion community in our law enforcement agencies / units, we will get proper intelligence from all the communities easily and effectively and accordingly action can be taken.Being a Muslim, my main aim is to intact India's territorial security, integrity and UNITY amongst all walks of life and I wish India further progress and becomes a peaceful Superpower in the World.Jai Hind!
eradicate terrorism by Kamal lochan padhi on 2008-12-04 10:30:18.962766+05:30
I think it is a good step and all the cops should be given the latest sophisticated weapons in order to finish the terroist within some minute . also cops in our four metros and bangalore, hyderabad , gujurat and some eastern parts of our country should provide the sophisticated weapons. Because if country will be secure then we will grow as a strong unit . also the terroist who are nabbed they should be killeed in such a way that this will create fear among the other terroist .This way of killing should be shown in TV channel. I think this will give pleasure to our patriots who have been killed by terroists. I AM PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN .
INCOMPETENCY by S Thulasidharan on 2008-12-04 10:22:12.964107+05:30
We talk about resurgent India and it pathetic to see our policeman running behind terrorist with 303 rifles which is good to be kept only in the museums. Our politicians are not bothered even for upgradations. PLEASE WAKE UP GUYS OR YOU ALL WILL BE THROWN OUT BY THE PUBLIC WITH THE CIVIL WAR FOR INCOMPETENCY IF THE PATIENCE OF THE PEOPLE WEARS OUT.
        
Equip and Train our Security Forces Better
by Vijayan on 2008-12-04 21:38:53.05065+05:30
Why is it that with all the development that has been going on in our country we are still so far behind when it comes to equipping and training our security forces to deal with attacks such as these. It was embarrassing to see our police running about with antiquated rifles which they clearly did not know how to use--or to even hold properly. It was sad was well to see the complete lack centralized command and control..Everybody seemed to be simply running about helter skelter with apparently no clear instructions on what to do or how to do it. Is it any wonder then it took the security forces so long to flush out the better armed and better trained terrorists. It's time for the leaders of the country---no--its well past time--to get their act togther and devote some serious time, money and effort in revamping our security forces to be able to better deal with situations such as these. It is simply not fair on the country-and even less to the people out there fighting to keep us safe--to have such ill-equipped, under-trained security personnel.
View all Messages [ 10 ]
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