NSG headless as chief retires

The country's elite counter-terror force NSG has been rendered headless with the government not appointing a new chief for the special operations unit as incumbent DG J N Choudhury retired yesterday.
Choudhury, a 1978-batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was heading the 'black cat' commandos force since January last year.
With no new name being announced as the new National Security Guard (NSG) Director General, Choudhury's charge is being handled by an Inspector General rank officer at the forces' headquarter here.
"The new appointment is expected to be made within this week by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

A pool of names of about three senior Indian Police Service officers has been sent by the Union Home Ministry for the consideration of the ACC," official sources said.
Choudhury, who has earlier the Assam DGP, had undertaken several initiatives to enhance the capabilities of this vital force and bolstering the infrastructure of NSG hubs in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, during his stint.
NSG was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency force with a specific aim to undertake counter-terror and counter-hijack operations and it was later tasked to protect high-risk VVIPs.