HYDERABAD: Following in the footsteps of the elite National Security Guards (NSG), the State anti-terror force, Organisation for Counter-Terrorist Operations (Octopus), is all set to acquire Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine guns from Germany.
The MP5 sub-machine gun is the most widely used weapon by armed forces and law enforcing agencies across the world - 40 countries, including the NSG in India, use it.
Top sources disclosed to Express that after a meeting of senior police officials recently, the State police had forwarded a request to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which would initiate the process of importing the guns.
‘‘We have written to the MHA a few days back and are hopeful of getting a positive response soon,’’ sources said. Besides MP5, orders are a l s o being placed for Au s t r i a n Glock and AK-47s. Like the NSG, Octopus commandos too will be armed with hand grenades. ‘‘Currently, Octopus has 257 commandos and orders have been placed for as many weapons. We have asked for a huge quantity of ammunition, especially for the MP5 which comes with silencers,’’ the sources said.
The light-weight MP5 sub-machine guns have a maximum range of 150 metres and an effective range of 25-100 metres. The weapon can fire a few hundred rounds per minute.
Sources said the budget for the purchase of weapons was around Rs 20 crore. ‘‘Ammunition itself will cost about Rs 5 crore,’’ they informed.
The Octopus commandos are being trained at the APSP Battalions on the lines of Black Cats to tackle situations like hostage crisis and flushing out terrorists holed up in buildings or establishments.
‘‘Once we get the MP5s, commandos will be specially trained to handle them,’’ sources added.