CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has decided to raise a Special Operations Group (SOG) under the state police on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG) to fight terrorists.
Sources said the specialist group will comprise 600-odd highly trained men in black, and the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) of 40 commandos, trained by Israel and stationed at the Bahadurgarh Commando Complex near Patiala, will be brought under it.
SOG will have three units of 200-odd men each, selected from the best commandos and state police.
Two units of the Special Operations Group to be raised by the Punjab government will be ready for action anywhere in the state in a matter of minutes, while the third unit will be constantly on training.
The commandoes will be made abreast with the latest techniques of fighting terror as well as fire power accuracy. The group will also be sent to the NSG Training Complex in Manesar, Haryana, and army units for specialised training modules, an officer said.
It is a brain child of Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora.
The new unit will be headed by ADGP Rakesh Chandra, who has considerable experience in these kinds of operations. He has carried out operations in Punjab and was also a member of the Special Task Force in J&K.
Punjab Police will be the first state police in North India to have this elite unit. Mumbai Police has one, named Force 1, while Karnataka has its Octopus. CRPF has a similar unit, called Cobra, to carry out anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.