VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh DGP D Gautam Sawang heaped praise on 18-member team of elite counter-terrorist organisation OCTOPUS (Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations) for securing top place in the seventh joint anti-terror exercise Agni Pariksha-7 organised by the National Security Guard (NSG) at Manesar in Haryana three days ago.
Addressing mediapersons at Police Headquarters in Mangalagiri, the DGP presented rewards to the commandos for their outstanding performance in the joint exercise and said that the OCTOPUS force was trained on par with NSG commandos to tackle terrorist attacks, hostage rescue, evacuation in emergencies, VIP security and rescue operations during disasters in urban areas.
"OCTOPUS proved that they are on par with NSG in terms of mental and physical strength. Previously, OCTOPUS stood in second place in the All-India Commando meet in 2015 held at NSG Gurugram and achieved many feats at the national level competitions," the DGP said.
He congratulated head constable A Papa Rao who won the best all-rounder award at the competition. "After training, we were given various tasks in which the Andhra Pradesh team performed well and stood first and Kerala team, Thunderbolts, stood second," Papa Rao said.