Panaji: Goa police have inducted 40 new recruit commandos in the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). These 40 commandos are the police personnel who have been sourced from different police units in the state including IRBn and have undergone 1 month pre-commando training at the police training school (PTS) Valpoi, informed a senior police officer. The officer said that soon these commandos will undergo specialised commando training at the National Security Guard (NSG) training centre in Manesar-Haryana. Once the specialised training is complete, these 40 will join the existing commandos in the Goa ATS, taking the commando tally to around 100.
According to information, the Goa police department had sought willingness from the police personnel from different Goa police units to join the ATS as commandos. It is learnt that a number of applicants (police personnel) had shown
willingness to join the ATS as commando. However, not all could be selected as only 40 policemen were chosen after a thorough and tough physical proficiency test, sources said. Following which they were sent for pre-commando training at PTS Valpoi and later they will undergo a specialised training at NSG training centre in Manesar-Haryana, informed the police officer.
Once the 40 recruit commandos complete the specialised training the strength of the ATS commandos will be around 100 and as per sources, more policemen will be inducted as commandos in the ATS in the coming days.
According to police officials, the existing commandos in the Goa ATS have undergone specialised training with the country’s elite contingency force NSG. They have also received training at the Force One, a specialised counter-terrorism unit of the Mumbai police and received training also from Greyhounds, a police special forces unit.
It may be recalled that last year in December, a three-day joint counter terror exercise, Gandiv-II was organised by the NSG in coordination with ATS, Goa police and saw participation of all the units of Goa police.
According to the police, the objective of counter-terror exercise was to assess capabilities and preparedness of NSG and the state machinery in responding to a worst case terror strike across multiple locations simultaneously. It also checked the inter-operability of various departments and units, the police had said. The exercise was conducted at 6 important locations across Goa simultaneously from 7 to 9 December. The exercise continued non-stop through night and day and culminated with demonstration of a mock drill.