The Haryana Government has decided to set up an Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) that would comprise specially trained personnel to be recruited from the State police, announced Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatar.
The Chief Minister was interacting with media persons on the occasion of the release of ‘Vikas Geet’ CD composed by Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, at Gurugram on Monday.
After rigorous training of around 14 weeks by the National Security Guard (NSG) located at Manesar in Gurugram around 150 Haryana police personnel will be inducted into this special force. A batch of 50-50 physically fit personnel of the state police will be inducted in the ATF and member of the force could be transferred to Haryana police.
“We have decided to set up an anti-terrorist force. This force will be named ‘Kavach’. Select Haryana police recruits will be trained by the National Security Guard (NSG). I have already spoken to the NSG in this regard,” Khattar told media persons in Gurugram.
ATF will be headed by an officer of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) or Inspector General (IG) rank and the headquarter of the special force will be at Gurugram as the NSG campus is already present in the district.
A senior official from the State Government said members of this team are experts in building interventions, counter ambush and VVIP security. The force personnel will tab on the eye on religious places and at the high-security zones in the State and suspicious activities of the terror groups.
When asked on the need for such a force, Khattar said the ATF will deal with “security challenges in general which we face in the present day. It will also help the state police force to deal with terrorist ideology.
Clarifying that the decision to form this force had nothing to do with any specific threat being faced by the state, the CM said, “Prevention is better than cure.”
When attacks in Pathankot and Mumbai occurred no one knew them from before, the idea is to be better prepared (in the future). ,” he explained.
The finer modalities for setting up the ATF are being worked out, Khattar said.
The Chief Minister also said that the Kherki Daula toll plaza would be shifted to Panchgaon by March 2019. Thereafter, the traffic movement between Gurugram and Manesar would be smoother.