Chandigarh police to increase quick reaction team’s strength

CHANDIGARH - The Chandigarh police will increase to 100 the strength of its Quick Reaction Team (QRT) commandos — trained on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG) to rescue trapped hostages from the custody of armed men, officials said here Sunday.

The QRT was constituted after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to counter any similar attacks here. Now, the team will also be armed with latest and sophisticated arms.

“Chandigarh has been on the radar of terrorists. Recently disturbing reports have come that hint at the presence of some suspected terrorists in neighbouring states. This prompted us to increase the strength of the QRT commandos and to equip them with latest weapons,” Senior Superintendent of Police S.S. Srivastava said.

The police have decided to increase the number of QRT commandos from 45 to 100, who are trained on the pattern of the National Security Guard (NSG). The QRT personnel are trained in making an emergency entry into a building, and rescuing trapped hostages and citizens in the custody of armed people.

“The QRT commandos will be provided two bullet- and grenade-proof vehicles costing Rs.50 lakh each. The commandos will be armed with latest sophisticated weapons like AK 47 (7.62 mm) US or Russian make, AK 47 used by the Indian Reserve Battalion, Carbine MP5 A-3 and night vision devices. The commandos will also be provided with special kits that are given to the NSG commandos at the time of any emergency operation,” Srivastava said.

In the past few months, over a dozen militants of various banned terrorist outfits have been caught in different parts of Punjab.

The Punjab police have also recovered explosives from various places and senior officials admitted that some people were trying to revive terrorist activities in the state that suffered terrorism during the 1980s.