Ten years ago, it was a usual Saturday night in Mumbai, with eateries and hotels of South Mumbai thronged by patrons and people rushing home after a hard day at work. But what was about to happen later that night, neither the city, nor it's security agencies were prepared for. On November 26, 2008, Mumbai witnessed one of the darkest days in it's history. It wasn't any other attack -- it was a war-like situation, for which, the Mumbai Police was never prepared. As Mumbai Police looked helpless, specialised forces such as Marine Commandos and National Security Guards (NSG) came into the picture and took on the battle with the gunmen, later identified as Pakistani terrorists, trained by the dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The fierce gun-battle lasted for three days, leaving behind a question: how do we prevent or fight such an attack, if it were to happen again? The attack made Mumbai police undergo a complete overhaul. According to Mumbai police officers, the force has come a long way since that fateful day 10 years ago. A security assessment by the state government and a series of conferences among the government and senior police officers revealed that some of the major places where the police fell short were porous coastal security, advanced weaponry and the lack of a specialised, elite force. Even the Ram Pradhan Committee that was set up assess loopholes in the security system, recommended that there was a need of better coordination and sharing of intelligence between the state police and Navy, Coast Guard and Central government agencies. The terrorists were armed with AK47 rifles and hand-grenades. Consequentially, the Mumbai police is now equipped with advanced weapons such as anti-material gun, snipers and MP5 guns among others. In addition, the city is now surveyed by over 4,000 CCTV cameras. The central government has played a crucial role in setting up an NSG base in Mumbai. While the Maharashtra Police set up their own specialised agency known as Force One on the lines of NSG and the Mumbai Police created Quick Response Teams. "All these men are well-armed and are trained to take on any battle-like situation. If a 26/11-like situation arises, then firstly QRT would engage terrorists and if the situation goes beyond their control, then Force One and later NSG will come into action. We have 39 armoured vehicles that would have at least five to six fully trained policemen with sophisticated weapons and would act as first responders in case of any terror attack," said a police officer. Another police officer said that the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of Mumbai Police has also undergone an upgrade and are now better equipped and trained. Speaking about the intelligence gathering aspect, an officer said, "We have set up Anti-Terror Cells at every police station. They are responsible to gather intelligence on terror activities from local areas. Apart from this we also conduct regular intelligence-sharing meetings with a Multi-Coordination Agency."

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