The recently inducted India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations, all the 36 commandos are from northeast.
The SWAT team comprises of 13 commandos from Assam, five from Arunachal Pradesh, five from Sikkim, five from Manipur, four from Meghalaya, two from Nagaland and one from Mizoram and Tripura.
Delhi Police inducted the all-woman SWAT team ahead of the Independence Day celebrations in the country.
“Some of the best male commandos cannot do what these women can do,” gushed a senior Delhi Police official after Home Minister Rajnath Singh formally inducted them into service.
The women commandos from the northeast region underwent 15 months of rigorous training in weapons handling, counter-terrorism, military self-defence technique pioneered by Israel’s security forces – to enter the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team- Krav Maga.
The unit, will be the sixth SWAT team, will be part of the security operation when Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers his annual Independence Day address from the Red Fort on August 15.
On other days, the commandos will be stationed at strategic locations in Central and South Delhi as well as around the Red Fort and India Gate, reports say.
The Women Commandos of the Delhi Police Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) unit were seen sporting the new uniform of the unit in a dark shade of blue. Reports say the uniform was designed by fashion designer Ashish Soni, while the colour and pattern was picked by Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.
Members of this team are experts in building interventions, counter ambush and VVIP security.