Al Ngullie
Morung Express News
October 14
Nagaland state police has now entered the ranks of states in India boasting of anti-terror trained elite commandos, with a final group of 200 police personnel from the first batch of 600, expected to return from training, in November. The state’s police establishment confirmed this development, tonight, Thursday October 14.
The elite commandos – dissimilar from standard police commandos – were sent for specialized training following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, the police establishment informed. After the Mumbai attacks, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of India, directed Nagaland government to raise commando units from the ranks.
The commandos were all drawn from the 11th, 12th, 13th, and the 14th Indian Reserve Battalions (Nagaland Armed Police), all conscripted into service after year 2007. The selected personnel were then sent to Punjab to be trained in anti-terror and anti-insurgency response and operations, Nagaland Police chief said.
This first batch of 600 commandos is envisaged to be guiding trainers for future commando units for the Nagaland police force. Police higher-ups said all the Naga IR battalion troops are, normally, already trained in commando warfare and counter tactics. But the 600 newly-trained commandos, police chiefs said, are specialized, elite commandos in its strictest sense.
Director General of Police K Kire confirmed that 600 commandos have been trained by the Punjab Police. Sent in three batches of 200 each, the final group is expected home next month. The 200 is said to be completing their special training this October while the first two groups of total 400 commandos are understood to have reached Nagalnd already.
Punjab police’s commando wing is one of India’s most well-known and considered among the most potent armed forces in the country, having broken the back of insurgency in the state in the 1980s.
DGP Kire said 400 commandos have returned to Nagaland and the remaining unit of 200 commandos is expected home soon. They are already operational and ready, whenever their service is called for, Kire said over phone tonight. The police chief also did not rule out a specialized commando unit from the 15th Mahila IR (NAP) battalion. The all-women IR force is currently in New Delhi as security for the ongoing Commonwealth Games.
Also, PRO for Police Headquarters, IG ST Sangtam implied all the IR battalions’ personnel being already commando-trained. But the first 600 are ‘special commandos’ (more specialized) for anti-insurgency or anti-terror operations. He said that the first Punjab-trained commandos can potentially serve as trainers to train further elite units in the Nagalnd police establishment. This, replying to a query Sangtam said, does not rule out creating more commando units in the future. He also did not rule out a unit from the Mahila IR.
Both the police chiefs were queried whether or not the commando units would be filed for the-infamous “VIP” duties for Nagaland government leaders. Both DGP Kire and IG Sangtam replied in the negative; the units would be used only for specialized operations, they said. And they are ready whenever situations arise, the police leaders added.
According to reports, the new elite troopers are expected to be equipped with more specialized armory and weapons. Details of what this optimization could be were not made available at the time of filing this news report.
