Tomorrow Is Just Another Day

For the state ATC has neither infrastructure nor legal tooth. As things stand, it is headed by an IGP-level officer—who is supposed to be supported by an SP, two DySPs and other lower-level staff. Outlook has learnt that an SP-rank officer was posted to the cell only after the July 25 loss. The post had been lying vacant for some time. As a senior state police officer put it, "Most people posted to the ATC tend to think of it as a punishment posting. Capable, competent officers are never posted here. It’s surprising that successive governments have not attached any importance to this cell."

Moreover, the ATC does not even have powers to arrest a person; it still has to work through the jurisdictional police stations. There was talk of revamping the cell after the Indian Institute of Sciences shooting (the first terror incident in the state) in December ’05 but that petered out after a few months. "Civilian security is a big joke, nobody bothers after an incident moves out of the headlines," the senior officer says. The ATC’s current role is limited to passing on terror alerts from central/state intelligence networks. Compare this to the anti-terror outfit set up by the Andhra Pradesh government after the October ’07 Hyderabad blasts; it has 1,500 personnel drawn from different wings of the state police.

The Bangalore police are now working the ‘we can’t be complacent’ angle. "We were lucky there weren’t many people around," says a security official. Despite the public concern, CM Yediyurappa’s first reactions were disappointing. He saw it more as a "conspiracy to destabilise and defame" his government than an attack on the city. Later, he also naively suggested that his government would consider ID cards for all residents. As if there was ever a problem procuring bogus cards in our system! More than anything else, effective vigilance is what is called for now.