The Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ) is ready to follow in the footsteps of the Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh in its battle against Maoists. The Ministry of Home Affairs is providing funds on condition that this Special Task Force (STF) of the State will be developed like the Greyhounds.
“JJ was established on lines of the Greyhounds, the only difference being that it operated with the assistance of others like CRPF, JAP-I or State police. Greyhounds operate independently,” said JJ DIG Praveen Kumar. Now, JJ too is preparing to act independently in small groups.
According to DGP Rajiv Kumar, JJ involves as many as 80 policemen in an Assault Group while it does not exceed more than 40 men in case of greyhounds. Kumar returned on Friday after visiting the training camp of greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh.
“I had gone to AP to study how the greyhounds operate during the anti-insurgency operations in the jungles. They move in smaller groups while we have comparatively larger Assault Groups comprising 80 policemen,” said the DGP. Kumar also met the police personnel of JJ who are undergoing training with the greyhounds and shared their experiences.
Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned `75 crore to develop Jharkhand Jaguar on the lines of the Greyhounds in the next three years. Construction of a 150-acre camp has already been started.
40 policemen have been sent to Andhra Pradesh who will be trained at the greyhounds training camp and will further train other police men of JJ. The trained policemen will be coming back in the first week of October.
Jharkhand Jaguar, which came into being on February 19, 2008 and 20 Assault Groups of Special Task Force (STF), was sanctioned for eradication of extremist activities in Jharkhand.