Hyderabad has been a victim of many terror attacks in the past and for obvious reasons, continues to be vulnerable.
The Telangana home department has identified 125 potential terrorist targets across the city, including ShaOccmshabad airport, Secunderabad railway station and state assembly. Other buildings like secretariat, Birla Mandir and defence establishments are also equally vulnerable and need more protection.
To counter these kinds of threats, ‘Octopus’ an elite anti-terror wing was created along the lines of National Security Guards (NSG).
While the proposed Octopus training Centre at Ibrahimpatnam, Hyderabad is not yet ready, the Octopus commandoes are being trained elsewhere. Why is the training center not yet ready? Because, the Telangana government has not been providing funds for the anti-terrorist wing.
The home department in its budget demand report submitted to the assembly a couple of days ago revealed that while the estimated cost for the training centre is Rs 146 crore, only Rs 66.16 crore was spent so far. As against a minimum of 1000 commandoes required for Octopus, there are only 200 available as of now.
Hopefully, the TRS can take some time off from buying opposition MLA’s and invest that amount for the safety of the people of Hydrabad.
