The Delhi Police Special Cell planted 30 dummy improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in places with high footfall over the past month to check police alertness over the last month.
Notably, only 12 were detected by the public, private security guards and local police.
“The first batch of 15 dummy IEDs was planted on June 12 across Delhi’s districts, and 10 of them were detected. Of the 10, two were detected by the public in Southeast and North districts; three by security guards of malls in South, Rohini and Outer districts; and five by the local police in North, Northeast, East, Northwest and Outer North districts,” a senior police officer said to The Indian Express.
The step was taken after the controversy regarding former BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma's statements on the Prophet Mohammed, which led to a backlash that included a warning by Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) that it would orchestrate suicide bombings in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat over the comments.
Last month, an order regarding this readiness check was issued by the Special Cell Unit of the city police.
The officials said the staff of the Special Cell will randomly "plant" the dummy improvised explosive devices at high footfall areas in each of the 15 districts.
As soon as the district police detects 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 said at the time.
The officials said high footfall areas should be patrolled, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed there monitored regularly.
On January 14 this year, an unattended bag containing an IED was found at Ghazipur flower market. The officials from Special Cell, National Security Guard's(NSG) bomb detection and disposal team and fire tenders reached the spot and the device was diffused.
