Patna, July 10: Heavily armed Bihar Military Police (BMP) and Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) personnel stormed the state secretariat this afternoon. Some of them ran from one place to another as if dodging bullets. Reaching strategic points, they took position for counter-attack.

Cool down, the state secretariat was not under siege. The whole exercise was part of the city police’s prepar- ation to introduce special operating procedure (SOP) at the building.

Led by city superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Lande, the men in uniform had taken guard at important positions. With an SLR, Lande himself was seen standing at a strategic point as if he was on guard against some surprise attack on the building housing the chambers of the chief minister, several of his cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats.

The exercise over, the city SP said: “SOP is very important for security purposes because a full-fledged and strong system can be of great help in times of crisis. With a foolproof plan ready for execution in case of an attack, the loss of lives would be minimal. The state capital is not under any kind of threat but it is imperative for the important buildings and structures to have their own SOP.”

SOP involves a full-fledged plan making the security personnel aware of what to do and how to react if the place they are guarding is attacked. It includes a strategy to ward off the attackers and tips for cops on how to execute it. Apart from the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, no other major installation in the city has an SOP.

A committee set up by the state government had given the city police the task of charting out the SOP for the state secretariat. They would also have to chalk out SOP for other major installations (see graphics) in the city.

After carrying out the security drill at the state secretariat this afternoon, Lande said the state secretariat’s full-fledged SOP would be ready in a week.

“Once the SOP of the secretariat is complete, the focus would shift to Patna High Court,” the city SP said.

Mahavir Sthan, the historic Patna Sahib Gurdwara at Patna City, the New Market Mosque, the Badi and Chhoti Patandevi at Patna City would also have SOPs.

“Once the religious places are covered, the police would look into structures like the Patna Museum and Gol Ghar,” the city SP said.