Cops to reward those who detect dummy IEDs

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has decided to reward people who will detect the dummy improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which were planted by the Special Cell in different districts of the national Capital, a senior officer said on Saturday.

The Delhi Police in June last had said it will plant dummy IEDs in high footfall areas of the city to check the alertness of the local police.

"This is an ongoing exercise which we are doing with the citizens of Delhi. We want each and everyone to be vigilant. There has been instances when the dummy did not detected. In that specific area, we again sensitise security people, the locals, shopkeepers, RWAs etc. We also ask our personnel to be more vigilant and aware people also," Delhi Police Spokesperson Suman Nalwa said.

The local police are working closely with security guards, parking attendants, watchmen, RWAs etc. It is in view to encourage people to be more vigilant and become ears and eyes of the Delhi Police, especially during Independence Day and Republic Day. They will be more prompted to be more vigilant, the officer said.

The Delhi Police had said the staff of the Special Cell unit will randomly "plant" the dummy IEDs at high footfall areas in each of the 15 districts.

As soon as the district police detect the dummy IED, regular protocol of handling such a situation like cordoning off the area, using sandbags for buttressing, and calling the bomb disposal team must be followed, they had said.

The officials had said high footfall areas should be patrolled, and CCTV cameras installed there monitored regularly.

On January 14, an unattended bag containing an IED was found at Ghazipur flower market. The officials from Special Cell, NSG's bomb detection and disposal team and fire tenders reached the spot and the device was diffused.

Delhi Police is vigilant towards the safety and security of the city and to ensure that local police is vigilant, other units are roped in to check the preparedness.

In view of Independence Day, the same exercises are being conducted and any short coming is brought to the notice of senior officers of the concerned district and unit for corrective measures, officials said. "The moment we get to know about the CCTV cameras which are not functional, we raise the concern and make sure that within 24 hours, they start working," Nalwa said. Further, many a times the units roped in for checking are not well versed with the resource utilisation and management of the concerned place based on the threat perception and other factors which determine the deployment of resources, she said.

To discuss the shortcomings in open forum is giving the anti-national elements room to give root to the nefarious designs. The internal documents and communication made to improve the system should not be made a tool to inform the anti-national elements about the weak links, she added.