Date:30/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/30/stories/2008113056330100.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Assault force to be raised in State on lines of NSG

Special Correspondent

Proposal on elite outfit mooted by YSR at Cabinet meeting

HYDERABAD: Waking up to the vulnerability to Mumbai-type terror attacks, the State government has decided to raise a new security force in the Police Department on the lines of the National Security Guards (NSG).

The State Security Guards, as it will be called, will be similar to the NSG in terms of high benchmarks for recruitment and training. This proposal to constitute the elite outfit was mooted at a Cabinet meeting here on Saturday by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy as the State was exposed to risk along its long coastline and within. He was impressed by the professional work of the NSG commandos in neutralising the terrorists in Mumbai.

Panel constituted

The Cabinet constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to work out the modalities of the SSG which would be headed by a DIG-rank officer and would work under the overall control of the head of Greyhounds, the anti-naxalite outfit. There would be District and City guards consisting of 100 commandos each. The committee would also examine the various decisions taken on police revamp but not implemented, Information Minister A. Ramnarayan Reddy told reporters.

The Cabinet also resolved to strengthen marine security by establishing one police station for every 50 km of the 960-km long coastline and equip them with speed boards, modern weapons and vehicles besides imparting marine training. A DIG-rank official will be made in-charge of coastal security.

The Minister clarified that the SSG would not be an alternative to OCTOPUS, which was constituted in the wake of terrorist attacks in Hyderabad.