BENGALURU: In case Bengaluru were to see
multiple bomb blasts
, like it happened in 2008,
police
would be in a big fix as there’s just one
Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad
(BDDS) in the city. What’s more, this lone team doesn’t even belong to city police, but to the
state intelligence.
However, after a long wait, police are now getting their own BDDS team. According to senior police officers, even though Bengaluru witnessed five bomb blasts and several bomb threats, not having a dedicated bomb disposal team was a big handicap. Police commissioner Praveen Sood said the raising of a
bomb squad
for city police has been approved and procurement will begin soon. “Unlike the existing team, which is under the state intelligence, the new team will be part of city police’s VIP protection team,” said Sood.
That’s not all. There’s more good news. The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is one of the locations where the bomb disposal squad has been deployed the most in the past two years. However, deploying the lone team 38km away from the city centre has been a cause of worry for the city’s law keepers. Now, the KIA too is procuring equipment to raise a BDDS team for the airport.
“It has been a long-pending issue. We have been writing to KIA authorities and asking them to set up their own BDDS squad, so that it takes the pressure off us,” said Sood.
With the two new bomb squads in place, police will be better placed to handle a serious terror situation. However, the process of raising a BDDS unit can be time consuming as it requires procuring several equipment like bomb suits and bomb trailers. Also, as these teams will also have the additional task of VIP protection, equipment such as signal jammers will have to be procured.
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