All-woman SWAT team ready to fight terrorists in Delhi

The Delhi Police on Friday inducted an all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, consisting of 36 commandos -- the first-ever by any police force in India -- for anti-terrorist operations.

Presiding over the induction ceremony, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed happiness that the Delhi Police has raised an all-woman SWAT team and mentioned that "they will be deployed during the upcoming Independence Day celebrations".

The elite women commandos, hailing from the north-eastern states, will be deployed at strategic locations for securing the Independence Day celebrations.

"The 36 women SWAT commandos have undergone rigorous 15-month training which includes basic, commando and advanced honing of skills under the tutelage of NSG (National Security Guard) trainers. The Delhi Police has raised the commandos for anti-terrorism duty under the Special Cell unit of the force," Rajnath Singh said.

On the occasion, the Minister asked the Delhi Police to play a lead role as being the police of the national capital and advised the force to become a role model for other states and union territories' police.

"The practices adopted by Delhi Police should be among the best practices of police," he said.

Rajnath Singh also stressed upon the perceptional change of the Delhi Police, directing senior officers to go on patrolling with juniors on some occasions and motivate them to adopt a public-friendly approach while taking part in their policing activities.

On Friday, he also inaugurated the building of the offices of Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West district), Delhi Cantt Police Station and Delhi Police residential complex and said that "construction of new complexes strengthen the basic infrastructure of the department which will lead to new energy in the personnel towards their duty, finally benefiting the citizens".

He said that the society has a lot of expectations from the Delhi Police and to meet these expectations, it needs modern working place and good working environment.

For the purpose, the Minister said the government has increased the fund allocation to Delhi Police from Rs 6,378.18 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 7,426.98 crore in 2018-19, an increase of 15 per cent.

He said the government has also sanctioned procurement of Facial Recognition System for the Crime Unit and 2,700 hand-held devices with SIM card for equipping constables with e-beatbook.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also said that a proposal to recruit 12,000 additional personnel in the Delhi Police is under consideration, but added that the approval has been given to recruit 3,139 police personnel.

Besides, the government created 4,227 posts in the year 2016 and another 3,139 posts this year while separating the crime investigation from the law and order functions with an aim to improve the conviction rate, he said.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and other senior officers were present on the occasion.

--IANS

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