Mangaluru, June 14: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) set up in limits of Mangaluru city police commissionerate has formally commenced operations.
The 35-member police team arrived in Mangaluru after completing a 2-month long Counter Terrorism training at State Police’s Internal Security Division’s Center for Counter-Terrorism (CCT), Kudlu in Bengaluru.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Hariram Shankar on Monday, June 13, received the guard of honour from the SWAT personnel led by Reserve Police Inspector Subrahmanya M.
The ATS personnel have been picked from the City Armed Reserve Police. They will operate in two teams of 15-members each and will have a separate uniform, said Police Inspector Subrahmanya M.
Intelligence gathering and operations will be the two important aspects of the ATS. It will exchange information with the State Intelligence and Internal Security Division (ISD) on a regular basis, sources said.
Earlier, at the state level, the Centre for Counter Terrorism attached to the ISD was dealing with issues related to terrorism. At city and district levels, there was no exclusive staff for the job and other officers were given additional charge.
“But now, a full-fledged team will work in the ATS in city police commissionerates and it will be much more effective as the focus is clear and there will be proper flow of information,” a senior official said.
It is said inputs from intelligence agencies about probable terrorism related activities and presence of sleeper cells have prompted the state police to act swiftly in setting up the ATS.
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