Police Intelligence

Track of the day Robot Car Song - Ceiling.

250 police in London, acting on an intelligence tip-off that a house contained a lethal chemical suicide vest, have carried out a massive, anti-terrorist operation. The operation, code named 'Volga' led to the shooting of a young Bangladeshi man and the arrest of another. There is a suggestion that the shooting may have been accidental.

According to a report in the Guardian, Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the anti-terrorist branch of the Metropolitan police, said:

"This operation was planned in response to specific intelligence. As always, our overriding concern is for the safety of the public. Because of the very specific nature of the intelligence, we planned an operation that was designed to mitigate any threat to the public either from firearms or from hazardous substances."

That explains why there was no attempt made to evacuate the other houses in the street prior to the raid. Chemical weapon suicide vest - yet another first for London.

Police conducted a dawn raid on a house here in Bogsville. Acting on intelligence the officers smashed down the front door and entered the property where they found nothing but a 75 year old woman sitting terrified in a bath full of water. A police spokesman said later, "The officers entered the wrong house because they confused the numbers 6 and 9, a mistake that's easily made." Can't say I've ever had that problem. My problem comes with the juxtaposition of the words 'police' and 'intelligence'.