BENGALURU: To tackle and contain the situation effectively in the eventuality of any terror attack in the city, the city police has inducted two Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) teams. The teams have undergone rigorous commando training for two months.
The police department is preparing SWAT teams for each district, which will act as first responders in the event of a terror attack before the state’s elite terror-combat unit, Garuda Force, is called in. As part of it, two teams have been inducted exclusively for the city. The staff of these teams is drawn from the City Armed Reserve (CAR) units, and eight Reserve Sub-Inspectors (RSIs) and 120 other staff have been chosen. Of them, four RSIs and 60 staff have completed training at the Centre for Counter-Terrorism attached to the Internal Security Division (ISD).
The trained 64 staff are divided into two teams and stationed at vital installations in the city. It is planned to station one team in all eight divisions of the city. “The teams were trained by Garuda Force commandos to handle modern and state-of-the-art weapons such as MP5, Colt machine guns, Glock and other pistols, and stun grenades. They underwent rigorous training in the art of urban warfare and have learnt to handle hostage situations in a building or moving vehicle,” a senior official said.
The teams are trained to handle any situation arising out of a terrorist attack. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crimes) Sandeep Patil said they will carry out mock drills and will be called in for situations that require their expertise, besides deployment for events of international importance. “It is a well-trained combat unit in anti-terror and anti-Naxal operations.”