Union home minister Rajnath Singh announces deployment of a new NSG unit in Jammu and Kashmir
Mihir Paul
Threats to national security and the measures being taken to tackle these challenges were some topics raised by the Union home minister Rajnath Singh at the 34th Raising Day celebrations of National Security Guard (NSG). Speaking about the growing threat of ‘ultra-attacks’ the home minister said, “The ‘do-it-yourself’ and ‘lone wolf’ kind of terror attacks are a major challenge for us and for security agencies.”
Addressing the attendees at the Manesar garrison on October 16, Singh said terrorists were using social media for publicising their agendas, recruitments and actions. He cited examples of brazen vehicle-based attacks in New York, Paris, and London. He said that the NSG was already upgrading its skills, techniques, and arsenal to counter such threats.
Singh credited the armed forces for not allowing the terrorists to carry out any major attack in recent years. He reiterated, “In the last four and half years there has been no big terrorist attack in the hinterland of the country, largely due to the alertness of our security forces. Barring Jammu and Kashmir, our security forces have succeeded in preventing any terrorist attacks anywhere in the rest of the country”. He urged the state police forces to develop counter-terror capabilities of their forces, as they are the ‘first responders’ when an attack takes place.
He also announced the deployment of one full unit of NSG in Jammu and Kashmir, as he asserted that regional hubs of NSG are being set up to reduce timing of response in major terror attacks but maintained that the first respondents in any terrorist attack should be the state police. Director General, National Security Guard, Sudeep Lakhtakia, IPS said that the NSG teams will be kept at the disposal of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. “Commandos would be helpful in a situation where room-to-room intervention is required,” he added. The move to deploy a unit of NSG in Jammu and Kashmir came in the wake of increasing incidents of security forces losing many personnel during high-risk close-quarter house operations in populated localities. Director General Lakhtakia added that the NSG has not only developed its operational capabilities but has also put in immense efforts in the capacity building of the state police.
On this occasion, NSG commandos displayed their prowess, demonstrating the use of state-of-the-art drones, scaling buildings using parkour, deploying exceptionally well-trained canine units, and the air-dropping of troops from a helicopter among others.
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