Spare a thought
Constable Mohan Chawan on duty with AK-47 rifle and an incomplete, torn bulletproof jacket at Andheri station on Thursday. This happened during a terror alert: the Mumbai Police and Railways had increased security after the IB warned of possible terrorist attacks on the western line. The Andheri police station confirmed that they were still using old stock: padded and torn ballistic jackets without the metal panels for security. The station has a strength of over 80 cops with less than 10 bulletproof jackets. The outdated jackets, some dating back to 2004 and manufactured by Progressive Technologies, have never been used with a metal panel by the cops. After 26/11, the Chief Minister had promised to improve and increase the stock after many policemen, including former ATS chief Hemant Karkare, were injured or killed due to poor-quality jackets.

IB alert
The IB alert, coming days before the third anniversary of 7/11, was about a terror threat in local trains, sources said. Cops beefed up security with stations like Andheri and Churchgate turning into fortresses. Dog squads and police personnel were deployed after the alert. But Anil Tamaichekar, DCP (Western Railway), said, “We intensify security before the 7/11 anniversary. There is nothing unusual about it.” Lalit Kumar, chief security commissioner (Western Railway) echoed: “It’s a routine security beefing before 7/11.”