Anti-terror drill causes panic in Mumbai

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 15

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Video footage of a three-hour-long counter-terror drill at a shopping mall in Virar on the outskirts of Mumbai on Thursday evening shortly after the Pulwana attack caused panic.

As Mumbaikars spread rumours of a 26/11-type terror attacks on social media, the city police 

quickly issued warnings that it was only a mock exercise to test the alertness of the anti-terror squad of the police department.

According to the police department, teams of the Riot Control Police and the Quick Response Team descended at DMart Mall in Virar in Thane district outside Mumbai on Thursday to carry out the mock drill. 

As commandos in camouflage gear cleared the area around the store, their colleagues stormed the premises as part of the exercise.

However, onlookers who watched the operations shot footage of the operations on their mobile phones and shared it via social media complete with jingoism accompanied by totally fake reportage. As the three-hour-long mock drill ended with the police personnel nabbing one of the dummy terrorists, loud cheers went up among the public.

Police officials said tight security is provided at such mock drills to prevent onlookers from running berserk.