Police revamp: lots of money,few new arms

Nearly one year after the attack,the force has not been able to spend the entire amount and buy much of the equipment on its shopping list despite floating tenders as the procurement process has got stuck in a maze of antiquated rules.

State government and police officials told The Indian Express that so far only Rs 98.75 crore of the allotted Rs 126.22 crore has been spent,the purchases including dual binoculars,day-vision binoculars,searchlights,digital video cameras,314 bulletproof helmets,armoured vehicles,boats and amphibious vehicles to patrol the coastline.

The state has also bought new submachine guns,grenade launchers,combat mobiles,bulletproof jackets and helmets. The new weapons include MP 5 submachine guns,pistols by Heckler and Koch,Colt M4 Flat-top carbines (5.56 mm),MP5 tactical machine pistols,Colt M203 under-barrel grenade launchers and Barret M8 A1 long-range rifles.

But the list of high-tech gadgets Mumbai police floated tenders for and is still awaiting arrival of is equally significant,officers said.

Bids were floated at the beginning of this year to buy a total containment vehicle for safe disposal of explosives and hazardous chemicals,portable non-linear junction detectors -used to search and detect devices containing electronic fuses of explosive devices,radio microphones,microphone amplifiers,hidden sound recording devices- and a robot that would be used in hostage situations and to deal with radioactive,chemical or improvised explosives. Tenders were also floated for satellite phones and night vision binoculars,but none of these has arrived.

DCP (HQ-I) Vijaysing Jadhav said the order for the robot had been placed but refused to share details about its cost or arrival. The proposal for the containment vehicle is pending with the state government,he added.

Government sources said orders for satellite phones,night-vision binoculars and non-linear junction detectors could not be placed as the rules required at least three responses to the tenders but these got just one.

Enough bulletproof jackets,which were at the centre of a controversy in the aftermath of 26/11,have not been bought either. The first set of a few dozen jackets were given to the Quick Response Team of the Anti-Terrorism Squad but the rest of the city’s force is waiting for 350 jackets which are supposed to be bought through a centralised procuring system at the state police headquarters.

The process has crawled. “The vendor has been identified. We are expected to get 350 bulletproof jackets but the number may rise to 1,000. The jackets will strengthen the striking power of our policemen,” said Jadhav.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chandra Iyengar,however,said the government had spent a little more than the entire amount allotted to the force but did not give details. “Rs 129 crore has been spent and another Rs 93 crore will be spent for Mumbai Police by March next year. I do not know about the equipment you are asking about,I know that the entire amount has been utilised,” she said.

TERROR TRAIL
Pistols,carbine and bullets seized before delivery
The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested a man with a bag of weapons. Kailash Singh,28,was picked up from Amar Mahal in Chembur,just after he had arrived in Mumbai to deliver 10 pistols,a carbine and 50 rounds of ammunition. ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi refused to disclose where Singh had meant to deliver the arms. Based on the interrogation so far,he said Singh or the weapons have no links with any terrorist group. “The weapons have some random markings and the words Made in England scrawled on them,” Raghuvanshi said. They will be sent for ballistic tests. Singh has been remanded in police custody till November 18. The arrest followed a tip-off to senior inspector Rajan Ghule.

Held parade to identify slain terrorists: 26/11 witness
The prosecution in the 26/11 case examined on Thursday a special executive officer who had conducted a parade in January for identification of the bodies of the attackers at J J Hospital morgue. Navin Kandalkar deposed that seven of the bodies were identified by 29 witnesses; the other two were charred beyond recognition. Abdul Rehman Bada and Abu Umer had burnt to death at Hotel Taj. The witnesses included constable Arun Jadhav,who had been outside Cama Hospital and seen terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail in a police jeep,and Adil Irani who had been taken hostage at Hotel Taj.