How five 'dummy terrorists' managed to sneak into Mumbai and set alarm bells ringing

Mumbai: Nearly eight years have passed since Mumbai was attacked by 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists on the fateful night of November 26, 2008.

However, gaps still remain in the maritime security cordon of the country's financial capital.

This was exposed recently during the bi-annual ‘Operation Sagar Kavach’ exercise which has become a practice since the 26/11 attacks.

As per a report in The Indian Express, on May 17 and 18 when the exercise was underway, dummy terrorists managed to infiltrate the city.

Coast Guard personnel disguised as terrorists managed to enter the city from five of the six locations where the mock exercise was held.

This despite the fact that the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and the Coastal Police were all aware of the mock exercise and were actively participating.

Following the 'security breach' which is being viewed very seriously, a high-level meeting has been convened which would be chaired by the Chief Secretary, the report said quoting sources.

As part of the exercise, Coast Guard personnel posing as terrorists were required to sneak in with ‘explosives’ and ‘arms’ boxes.

“Five of the total six Coast Guard officials managed to sneak in the boxes without being intercepted. Only one was caught by the police. A detailed report has been prepared by the Indian Coast Guard officials and a meeting with senior bureaucrats on the security breach will take place soon,” an intelligence official told the newspaper.

While no details have been released officially with regard to the five locations which were breached, it is believed that one of the locations was Badhwar Park. It is the same location which was used by Pakistani terrorists to infiltrate Mumbai in November 2008.

“Five of the six managing to sneak in is a big concern and calls for some introspection by the Coastal Police,” the intelligence official added.