Delhi Police and other agencies are conducting mock drills across Delhi on Thursday and Friday to evaluate and enhance emergency response mechanisms and inter-agency coordination in the event of a terror strike. These drills are scheduled to take place at over ten locations throughout the city. The exercise, organized by the Delhi Police, involves various stakeholders, including fire services, civil defense volunteers, and residents' welfare associations. The drills are scheduled to commence at 12 pm on both days.
A senior Delhi Police officer emphasized that these mock drills are a standard procedure to test the efficiency and efficacy of institutional arrangements and inter-agency coordination in various scenarios. These drills are conceived after multiple rounds of inter-agency communications.
The mock drills will simulate complex operations, including hostage rescue, secondary device checks, and screening and securing suspects. The special forces of SWAT, Special Cell, and CISF (for the Metro stations) will form the inner cordon and conduct anti-terror operations as prescribed in the drills' manual. Incident command posts have been established, and a defensive evacuation drill will be executed.
In light of recent hoax bomb threats targeting over 250 schools in the Delhi-NCR region, security forces have intensified preparedness by conducting mock drills at various key locations across the city, including schools, airports, metro stations, and government buildings. Following these threats, the Delhi Police and National Security Guard (NSG) conducted a drill at Delhi Public School in RK Puram. Mock exercises have expanded beyond schools to other critical locations, such as Parliament House, Jhandewalan Temple, Hyderabad House, and Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The Delhi Police have appealed to the general public to extend cooperation and avoid falling for rumors and misunderstandings during the drills. Authorities have asked the public to remain calm and cooperate.