Delhi’s Game of Shadows: Secret terror drill plays out across city ahead of I-Day each year

The drills are planned in complete secrecy. Only the deputy commissioner of the special cell knows the full blueprint — the chosen locations, the timing, and the decoys

What began in 1995 as a one-off preparedness exercise after the Jammu Mandi terror attack has evolved into an annual, month-long operation that plays out quietly across Delhi before Independence Day. Each year, the Delhi Police special cell plants fake bombs, stages dummy terror strikes, and deploys “terrorists” carrying mock explosives — all to test the city’s security apparatus without the knowledge of its civilian population.

(Above) Security outside the Red Fort on Thursday, on the eve of the 79th Independence Day. The inspiration for these drills came in July 2015, when three gunmen in army fatigues stormed Punjab’s Gurdaspur, hijacking a car, firing at a bus stand, and attacking a police station. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

The drills are planned in complete secrecy. Only the deputy commissioner of the special cell knows the full blueprint — the chosen locations, the timing, and the decoys. Not even senior officers are privy to this information.

“We pick one district at a time, starting with crowded places like monuments, malls, markets, five-star hotels,” said a police office who has been part of the mock drill team.

“The devices have to be hidden well enough so that civilians don’t stumble upon them, and we never use the same spot twice. The district staff can’t know when or where we plant them. The operation’s details are a complete secret.”

The inspiration for these drills came in 1995, when an autorickhshaw filled with explosives detonated in the Mandi area of Jammu and killed more than 20 people and injured others. The incident was an unprecedented strike and prompted Delhi Police to prepare for the unexpected.

In November 1995, a bomb blast in Delhi’s popular restaurant Dilli Darbar left more than 20 people injured. The police then included Connaught Place and other crowded markets to their list of places where the drill would be held.

Soon, the scope widened. Drills began targeting high-security spots such as the Red Fort, venues for Independence Day celebrations attended by the Prime Minister, as well as luxury hotels like the Taj and Claridges, and markets such as Sarojini Nagar and Connaught Place.

For high-profile locations, the special cell makes detailed maps, fits dummy devices with GPS trackers, and dispatches covert teams to plant them. Sometimes, operatives play “terrorists” carrying boxes of fake explosives, attempting to move undetected through sensitive areas. “All materials are prepared well in advance and our staff is trained for such operations,” the officer said.

Over the years, the drills have grown more elaborate — but so have the lapses. Officials admit that local police often fail to detect the mock threats. On August 8 this year, a dummy terrorist managed to enter the Red Fort, walk past multiple layers of security, and reach the children’s enclosure with a fake explosives box, completely unnoticed.

Just a week earlier, seven policemen were suspended over the arrest of five Bangladeshi nationals allegedly living illegally near the monument. Around the same time, the special cell also recovered two live cartridges from the area.

Last year, local police managed to detect only about half of the dummy bombs planted near the Red Fort and in the Lutyens’ zone.

Senior special cell officers stress that the aim is not to embarrass the district police. “It’s not a competition,” one said. “The idea is to keep them alert. If lapses occur, we call the teams in, discuss the misses, and brief them on improvements.”

The tasks are intentionally difficult. “We design them so they’re tough to crack,” said an officer at police headquarters.

Each year, close to 70 locations across Delhi — mostly in central, north, west, south, and New Delhi districts — are chosen for dummy bombs. Some sites are picked by the Special Branch, and paramilitary forces and other agencies are also roped in.

“It’s purely for practice and to sharpen skills,” another officer said. “Because when the real thing happens, there will be no second chance.”