Commandos,judges assess stadiums

Force one,the states first response squad for terrorist attacks,carried out its first major night alert exercise on Monday at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium,Navi Mumbai,venue of two IPL matches including the final.

Force one,the states first response squad for terrorist attacks,carried out its first major night alert exercise on Monday at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium,Navi Mumbai,venue of two IPL matches including the final.

It was an alertness exercise to ensure the force is prepared to handle any situation,officials said. The team reached the spot,conducted a recce and took a 360º view of the venue right from the gates to the pitch.

The recce teams analysis was then exchanged with that of another team,which took positions in the night based on mental maps. They created their own control room at the site. There was no firing; the objective was to familiarise the commandos with the structure of a stadium,something that was not part of their training.

All of it made the exercise different from a routine drill the police had been conducting at malls,the airport and other public places.

The exercise was at night so that the commandos could handle a situation in poor light,a senior officer said.

The teams returned in set time and chalked out comprehensive plans based on their exercise,which continued into the early hours of Tuesday. They checked the time taken to reach the stadium and cross various landmarks,and also how much alertness the commandos had shown.

Elaborate security measures are in place at Brabourne and DY Patil,at the Trident hotels at BKC and Nariman Point where the teams will be put up,and along the routes to the venues.

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