Since 2004, the ATS has had three units in the city, with the Thane jurisdiction handled by the Vikhroli unit. With the new unit, the ATS will now be able to increase its information network for various pockets under rural Thane districts and also new satellite townships like New Mumbai.

“The unit has been functional for the last ten days. Initially, we used to oversee the operations and analyse intelligence based in Mumbai. Thane and New Bombay are cities which are developing and a unit was needed to oversee the areas in the neighbouring cities. We plan to have new units at Nanded and Amravati, after Thane,” said K P Raghuvanshi, acting ATS chief.

“This is a welcome move and we feel the city will only benefit with a specialised unit like ATS. While they will be getting all their feedback from their parent unit, we will give them support as and when they require it,” says Anil Dhere, commissioner of police (Thane).

“These days terrorists or other anti-national elements do not hide in slum areas or ghettos; they take refuge in sophisticated environments and change their profiles accordingly. Thane will benefit with a unit of the ATS, which will collect sensitive information in situations when the beat police would be tied up in routine policing.”

In 2008, a serial blast took place in Thane and Panvel auditoriums and a live bomb was found at Vashi, all of which were investigated by the ATS.

In the last few years, Thane (Rural) has seen criminal activities of all sorts with Naxalites and terrorists taking refuge in ghettos and also using the local network in such areas.

The Indian Mujahideen used access points at Thane (Rural) to enter the city and also used the weak Wi-Fi networks at Navi Mumbai to send terror threat mail.