Amit Shah to attend RAF anniv parade in Gujarat on Monday; honour troops

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday will review the anniversary parade of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised anti-riot and crowd control paramilitary unit, in Gujarat, officials said.

Shah will be the chief guest for the 27th Raising Day event of the RAF at its battalion number 100 based in Ahmedabad's Vastral area.

The RAF is part of the CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force with over 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks.

The home minister will also give away 20 gallantry medals to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel for exhibiting bravery in counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir and anti-naxal operations in various states, the officials said.

Shah will take the salute and review the operational preparedness of the blue dungaree-donning RAF before he addresses personnel of the force, they said.

This is the first time, Shah will attend an event of the RAF post the August 5 decision of the Centre abrogating Article 370 provisions that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The CRPF is the lead force deployed in the Kashmir region post this decision and at present, it has almost 1.5 lakh personnel there for conducting counter-terrorist operations and rendering regular law and order duties.

The RAF raising day is October 7, the day it became operational in 1992, but the event was rescheduled to Monday owing to some commitments of the home minister, officials said.

The force has 15 battalions based in various cities across the country and each unit has a strength of over 1,000 personnel.

These battalions are based at Secunderabad, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Navi Mumbai, Delhi, Aligarh, Coimbatore, Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Meerut, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Hajipur in Bihar and Nuh in Haryana.

Each RAF battalion is equipped with gadgets, lethal and non-lethal weapons like pump action guns, tear-smoke grenade launchers, and other equipment to enforce security and law and order in cases of protests or riot-like situations.