The cover story: What makes the SPG India's finest special protection force

The SPG was raised in 1985 after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her bodyguards

They are licensed to kill and prepared to die but members of the uber elite and most coveted security force in the country prefer to avoid the limelight and lurk in the shadows anonymously. Secrecy and stoicism are essentials in this job but the recent controversy over a security downgrade to members of the Gandhi family — Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka — has put the focus on the Special Protection Group (SPG).

Beyond the trademark impenetrably dark glasses with inbuilt communication devices, crisp business suits, sophisticated weapons, cat-like alertness and agile moves, we know very little of the SPG — what