Goa to raise marine commando squad, says minister

Calcutta News.Net
Thursday 2nd July, 2009 (IANS)

In a bid to counter sea-borne terror, Goa Police is in the process of setting up a marine commando squad, state Home Minister Ravi Naik said Thursday.

Naik told reporters at the police head quarters here that the marine commando squad was one of the ways in which terror attacks emanating from the sea like the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai could be thwarted.

'We are starting the force soon. We have called for volunteers who will be trained by special marine agencies like the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy for this specialized task. Goa keeps receiving terror threats like the one we received just a couple of days ago. We need a proper response mechanism in place,' Naik said, adding that a 365-day coastal alert was now emerging as a necessary scenario for the state.

Police officials said that the marine commandos would have high speed interceptor boats, which would be used to criss-cross the shore off Goa and the state's internal waterways.

'We have already received two boats from the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and nine more fast speed interceptor boats will be delivered to us this year,' a senior police official said.

The announcement of the marine commando squad comes on the heels of the inability of Goa Police to start an anti-terror wing, with the proposal being stone walled by the finance department, for paucity of funds.

Director General of Police Bhimsain Bassi admitted that the proposal was pending with the state government.

The tourism industry in the coastal state received a major jolt last year after reports of Goa being on the terror radar during the peak seasonal months of November, December and January this year, when a majority of the 2 million tourists, both domestic and foreign, visit the state.

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