Chandigarh, Dec 21 (IANS) An elaborate mock drill carried out by the police in the city’s main commercial hub Monday created panic among residents as sounds of blasts, firing from automatic weapons and blaring emergency sirens were heard. The police, however, said they were satisfied with their preparedness.
As morning office-goers got down to work and shops were in the process of opening, the sound of blasts and gunfire broke the morning silence followed by an immediate police response.

Emergency alert sirens went off in different parts of the city followed by scores of ambulances and police vehicles coming in and out of the commercial hub of Sector 17.

The drill was as real as an actual terror attack, complete with fake terrorists and policemen getting injured — with rubber bullets of course. As many as 250 police men were mobilised for the drill.

“Police control room got the call about this terrorist attack at 10.30 a.m. and our sufficient force was there on the spot in the next few minutes. The entire operation went on for more than one hour and finished at around 11.50 a.m.,” the union territory’s police spokesperson told reporters.

“One ‘terrorist’ was killed in the encounter whereas police managed to catch three others. Eight police personnel were injured in the attack… Police had to fire several rounds of rubber bullets,” the spokesperson added.

“We are satisfied with the overall performance of the police. The response and reaction time was very quick and police managed to catch three of the ‘terrorists’ alive,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Chandigarh) S.S. Srivastava told reporters.

“These mock drills are part of the police’s daily routine as they help us to determine our actual preparedness. This time also we have noticed many points that will help us to improve the efficiency of our force in the future,” he added.

But city residents were indeed scared by the drill.

“I had just reached my office when we started hearing bullet sounds. We did not have any hint that it was a mock drill. It was all very scary and I even called my husband and other relatives about a terrorist attack,” Smridhi Sharma, who works for an insurance firm here, told IANS.