Uttar Pradesh to get 5 more bomb disposal squads

Lucknow, July 1 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) will soon get five more bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS).

The new BDDS will be raised to engage them for upcoming vital installations like Metro train services, Ram Janmabhoomi temple and new international airports.

Some of the existing BDDS squads are based in Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Mathura, Agra, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

According to the government spokesman, the state presently has 26 such units with various district police units and other wings of the police.

The last time that the state police's BDDS saw an expansion was in 2010.

The new squads will be trained by National Security Guards (NSG) and a host of new explosive detection equipment with improved features will also be added in these five units.

"It will also be provided with a CROT (car remote opening tool) set. CROT is used to open doors of an abandoned car/truck/vehicle lying abandoned. Night vision tools and explosive vapour detector would also be a part," said a police official.

He also said that the personnel in these new five units will be trained at the National Institute of Counter Terrorism (NICT) which is run by National Security Guard (NSG).

UP police will simultaneously also raise ten units of Anti-Sabotage teams (AST) in the state.

The AST teams work on bomb threat situations, and how to detect explosive devices concealing methods used by terrorists and extremist groups.