Cops gun down militants, free hostages from hotel

Aurangabad, Jan 9:

The city police on Saturday afternoon organised a mock drill exercise at Hotel Taj Vivanta. Specially trained personnel of the quick response team and police stormed into hotel and rescued hostages after a battle with terrorists. The mock drill was held to check the city’s preparedness in case of an attack and improve coordination between agencies on the backdrop of Republic Day.

A wireless message was sent from the police control room to all the police stations and chief officers in the city that the militants had entered the hotel and started firing. The hotel was cordoned off by the Quick Response Teams (QRT), deputy commissioner of police, assistant CP, PI, sub-inspector and armed police personnel. The armed men took charge of the entrance, kitchen, lobby moving slowly. Some were seen taking instant action according to the instructions received from their superiors over the wireless phones. Firefighters, ambulances and disaster management personnel were immediately called to the hotel in case of any mishap. The demonstration, which lasted for about an hour under the guidance of CP Dr Nikhil Gupta, saw some militants killed, while some were captured alive and the injured were shifted to hospitals.