Surprise security drills by police in city create panic among citizens

People are ready to hit the panic button the next time they are asked to vacate a place.

With five mock drills conducted by the city police in malls and hotels, people say they are now quite "scared" in case something really serious takes place. And since the entire drill is done as a surprise, people around that area are not informed about it in advance.u00a0

On Sunday, a similar mock drill was carried out at the Taj Blue Diamond that left the guests at the hotel in a state of fear. Some even called family and friends informing about the incident.

In fact, Shampa Banerjee (name changed), working in an ad agency in Mumbai was the first one to start sending the panic messages. Banerjee, who was in the city over the weekend was in a state of shock and started sending messages to family and friends. And the chain of messages went around the city, creating a panic wave.

Surprise element
Meanwhile, officials at the Taj maintain that though the drill happened suddenly, the guests were immediately informed about it.

Parag Kathuria, spokesperson, Taj Blue Diamond, said, "The guests were anxious in the beginning, but when we explained that it is a police activity, they were fine."

An official from Shoppers Stop, where a similar drill had taken place on September 2, claims that the police had informed the authorities about the drill only an hour before the operation.

The police on the other hand maintain that the entire exercise is to train the police, authorities and general public to handle situations like terror attacks.

Satish Khandare, DCP, Zone II said, "We want everyone to be 100 per cent prepared for such situations both mentally and physically. People need to improve their preparedness to such situations."

The police are planning to conduct similar drills at more places, which are possible target areas. "As the festive season starts, the chances of terror attacks are more. Hence, we are being even more careful with the drills," added Khandare.