Police from four districts in the Konkan Range learned how to fire assault rifles, shoot from moving vehicles and handle explosives as they began their first counter-training in ‘‘how to combat urban terrorism’’ this month. Officers and 36 policemen from Raigad and Thane rural police started the basic training in a four-day course at an undisclosed site near Alibaug.‘‘Though terrorism has been so far limited to Mumbai, this is an exercise to prepare ourselves,’’ said K.P. Raghuvanshi, Special Inspector General of Police (IGP), Konkan Range. The range includes Thane Rural, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. Raghuvanshi believes that Thane and Raigad are the only possible passage for terrorists to exit the state after an attack on Mumbai.‘‘It requires specialised skills to combat terrorists and we should be able to deal with an emergency without panicking,’’ he said. In the four-day workshop, continuous training, with short breaks for just a few hours’ sleep, was given by the same specialists who trained the commandos of the National Security Guards.‘‘It is difficult to fire when both you and the target are in motion. Now I am confident in handling firearms in any situation,’’ said Constable Dilip Bendugade from Raigad after the training. ‘‘I feel now I am ready to deal with emergency situations,’’ agreed Constable Santosh Deshmukh.‘‘I don’t expect them to be full-fledged commandos in four days. This is just a basic course that will give them an idea of the more gruelling training in store for them. The objective is to gradually build a quick response team to deal with terrorists,’’ said Raghuvanshi.
