Robots to deal with bombs
Two bomb-disposal robots would soon be used in Bangladesh for busting explosive-stashed militants' dens where the risk of death lurks in every corner.
The remotely controlled German-made robots are capable of breaking into militants' dens, defuse explosives on the spot or move them to a safer place, reducing the exposure of law enforcers and risk of casualties.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, which specialises in fighting militancy, is also getting a Tk-14-crore Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) van from the US. The Armoured Personnel Carrier-like vehicle is supposed to arrive within a month.
During operations, law enforcers inside the van would be able to monitor the situation outside via CCTV cameras.
Officials said the van, if need be, would help conduct operations like that of the Gulshan café attack in 2016 as the vehicle would be able to break through walls and enter a place without incurring damage to itself. The van is bullet-, mine-, and IED-proof.
The robots, costing around Tk 10 crore including 200 percent tax and expenditure for staff training, have already been delivered, said CTTC officials.
The robots, which use tracks instead of wheels, can travel on mud, dirt, grass, gravel, climb up and down stairs and even flip over.
Robots have been used for disposing bombs for more than 40 years and police in India and Pakistan also use them, according to media reports. This is the first time the CTTC, created in 2016, is getting such an equipment.
“The robots are capable of detecting explosives, defusing them, and if necessary, will carry any bomb of a certain weight to a safer place and then defuse it to avoid explosion and reduce the risk of causalities,” said Chief of CTTC unit Monirul Islam.
Proloy Kumar Joarder, deputy commissioner (special action group) of the CTTC, told The Daily Star, “Our officials used to conduct operations manually. From now on, we will conduct operations with SWAT van.”
“The robots, specialised vehicles and gadgets will make our operations easier and secure,” said Rahmatullah Chowdhury, additional deputy commissioner of bomb disposal unit of CTTC recently.
Three law enforcers, including Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, director of intelligence wing of Rab, were killed while dealing with bombs near a militant hideout in Sylhet's Shibbari on March 27 last year.
Extremists often plant bombs at the entrances to their hideouts to prevent law enforcers from getting in. At Shibbari, they planted a refrigerator bomb at the door of the flat they were using as a den. Army commandos had to be called in and it took almost 110 hours to complete the operation in which four “neo-JMB” militants were killed.
To make missions safer, the CTTC is not stopping with the purchase of robots and the van. It wants two Total Containment Vehicles (TCV) and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) station vehicle. The home ministry is yet to approve these purchases, officials said.
TCVs can carry live bombs from one place to another. It is capable of containing an in-vehicle explosion of the bomb.
The EOD station vehicle is equipped with equipment like x-ray machines and signal jammers for defusing bombs and conducting bomb-disposal operations. It has room for the robots as well.
Earlier, the police had bought devices that create images of things behind concrete walls and jammers that could stop detonation signals of bombs. But, those were sent back to the supplier following technical issues, said CTTC officials.
The Police Headquarters bought the robots, and the van and some other devices to equip the CTTC unit to fight militancy more effectively, said Tanvir Momtaz, assistant inspector general (equipment) of the PHQ.
An expert from Germany was scheduled to arrive yesterday to train 10 police officers for 10 days on how to operate the robots, said the CTTC official.
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