New Delhi, (IANS): The Central government is planning to deploy NSG commandos in Jammu and Kashmir to assist other security forces in anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in the state, an official said on Monday.
The government has been considering the matter after the National Security Guard (NSG) recently submitted a proposal to the Union Home Ministry seeking deployment of a small unit of the elite force’s house intervention teams in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NSG’s proposal came in wake of security forces losing their personnel during high-risk house intervention operations in the densely-populated localities in the state.
According to data furnished by the government in Parliament, over 60 incidents of terrorist violence had taken place in Jammu and Kashmir from January till mid-March leading to the killing of 15 security personnel and 17 terrorists.
“The Union Home Ministry is mulling over a proposal to deploy a contingent of the NSG commandos in Kashmir. They can assist Army, CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in operations against terrorists and hostage-like situations,” said the official, on condition of anonymity.
The official said the Ministry has also sought opinion from different forces, specially Army, about deploying the NSG in the Valley.
The special skills of the elite force would be a great help for other security forces carrying out house intervention and hostage rescue operations, said the official, adding it would help the force prepare for insurgencies in other parts of the country too.
The official said the NSG is equipped with sophisticated weapons but they need real-time practice and situations.
According to the Ministry official, the force was deployed in the state earlier too. The NSG was used in the 1990s in limited operations in Kashmir.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during an NSG event in Telangana on April 10, said the government was planning to see how the force’s role could be “enlarged” as it is a world-class “zero error” force and can counter any kind of attack in minimum response time.
The NSG was set up in 1984 in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, which was carried out to flush out terrorists hiding in the Golden Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar.
The force did a commendable job during 26/11 Mumbai attacks after which the government set up NSG hubs at Mumbai (NSG 26), Chennai (NSG 27), Hyderabad (NSG 28), Kolkata (NSG 29) and Gandhinagar (NSG 30).