Police and security agencies in the state heaved a sigh of relief with the successful completion of ‘Theera Vetta’ (coastal hunt), a joint coastal security exercise in Kerala and Lakshadweep, without a lapse.
During the two-day coastal exercise held on Wednesday and Thursday, 10 attempts made to infiltrate various coastal areas in the state were successfully detected and neutralised.
According to police officials, unlike two coastal exercises held previously, ‘Theera Vetta’ was more successful.
The officials who participated in the exercise were divided into Red Force and Blue Force.
The Red Force was tasked with attempts to infiltrate and mock attack coastal installations.
The Blue Force guarded the coastal region and detected any attempt to infiltrate and attack by the Red Force in coastal region.
“Two attempts were made to infiltrate in Thiruvananthapuram district, two in Kollam, two in Kochi and four attempts in Kozhikode and Kannur districts. The security agencies were able to detect the Red Force acting as infiltrators. In the previous two exercises, police could not track the Red Force when it infiltrated Technopark and the railway station in Thiruvananthapuram. Considering the lapses in the previous exercises, the security was full alert in the capital city. In Kochi, attempts were made to infiltrate the newly-commissioned LNG terminal. However, the coastal police detected the Red Force at the distance of 3 nautical miles. Similarly, Red Force members were caught from Vizhinjam Port in Thiruvananthapuram and Neendakara harbour in Kollam,” police officials said.