Sagar Kavach handled ‘hostage situation’ off Chennai coast

CHENNAI: The two-day coastal security drill – Sagar Kavach - came to an end on Wednesday evening with the security agencies thwarting attempt of 105 ‘intruders’ to enter the State from sea. During the 4 hour long operation in one of the real-time scenario, the 14 hostages in a hijacked ship, 5 nautical miles from Chennai port, were safely rescued by Black Cat Commandos of NSG supported by all other agencies. “In overall, this exercise has achieved the intended purpose. Attempts made at 30 places all over the State of Tamil Nadu to infiltrate in to the destination were thwarted and 105 intruders and 19 RF boats were apprehended, ” noted ADGP Sandeep Mittal, Coastal Security Group, of TN police.

Lesson learnt in the operation will be incorporated into the SOP in the future. The security personnel were divided into two groups. One group was to make ingress from the sea to target the vital assets / vulnerable points including the high value targets on the coast as Red Force, while the other group called Blue Force was to intercept them, both at sea and on land. The Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and Customs have deployed their ships, boats, Fast Interceptor Crafts, Helicopters and Hovercrafts. Coastal Security Group deployed 7 Fast Interceptor Boats, 3 HDPE Boats, 2 Jet boats and 1 Amphioxus Craft, 11 other boats and All-Terrain Vehicles during the operation.

Sagar Kavach, involving all the land and Maritime Security Agencies was done to check the efficacy and preparedness of security forces and intelligence agencies against possible terrorist attack along the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast.

Coastal security has come to forefront after Mumbai terror attack on 26, November, 2008. Tamil Nadu and UT Puducheery, being a maritime State, has enormous importance of maritime safety and security and this types of security exercises are carried out with participation from Coastal Security Group, District Police in 14 Coastal Districts, Greater Chennai Police, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, CISF, NSG, Fisheries, Light House Authority, Intelligence Agencies, Q-Branch CID, Maritime Mercantile Department, Immigration, Customs, Forest, ONGC, Chennai Port Trust and all the major and minor ports.