Gandhinagar: Admitting that there were
lapses during the anti-terror mock drill in Surat city last
month where an Inspector was shot at, Director General of
Police S S Khandwawala today said the incident was "purely an
accident".
Shabbirali Sayyed, Inspector with the Anti Terrorist
Squad (ATS), was shot in the abdomen on February 24 by Surat
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Subhash Trivedi during a
mock drill that was conducted to increase preparedness of
district police officials in case of terror attack.
"The incident that took place during mock drill in Surat
was purely an accident and not a deliberate attempt to hurt
Sayyed," Khandwawala told reporters here.
The DGP said normally during mock drills, police officers
are asked not to use live ammunitions and during this event
also, such instructions were given.
"Trivedi himself was supervising the process of emptying
the weapons of police officers involved in the mock drill. But
unfortunately, his own revolver was not emptied properly," he
said.
"This surely was a lapse and the matter is being
investigated by two separate teams. One is headed by the Surat
Police Commissioner Shivanand Jha, while other is under
supervision of ATS chief Ajay Tomar," he added.
A ballistic expert is also involved in the investigation,
Khandwawala said.
"We are waiting for the enquiry reports from the two
teams and based on that, appropriate action would be taken,"
the DGP said.
Khandwawala said he has seen the footage of the incident
which was video recorded, and it appeared that Sayyed who was
posing as a terrorist was shot when he was being overpowered
by Trivedi who was in the garb of a doctor.
The DGP said he himself visited Sayyed who is under
bed-rest and talked to him about the incident.
"Sayyed has told me that he was disturbed with media
reports quoting him saying that he was deliberately shot by
Trivedi. He was so disturbed that he was contemplating to
resign from the force," Khandwawala said.
Describing how mock drill is conducted, Khandwawala said
during these drills, ATS officials pose as terrorists and
observe how the district police act in case of terror attack.
"Generally, the ATS officials pose as terrorists and
observe how the district police handle and negotiate during
terror attack. This is done to see if the district police
officials were following the guidelines issued by ATS properly
or not," Khandwawala said.
Such mockdrills have also been conducted in coastal and
border areas and important cities of the state.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 15, 2010, 21:32