Nagaland Police almost ready with special ops units

Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 12

The Nagaland Police is reportedly all set with a functional special tactics unit. The unit known as the Special Task Force (STF) was raised this year and trained at the Counter Insurgency and Anti-terrorism School (CIATS), Ruzaphema.

Personnel for the STF was picked from the regular police battalions and specifically trained to function as a commando unit styled on the lines of special operations teams that has become a staple of police and military forces across the world.

The first batch of the STF underwent training at the CIATS from March to July.

While there has so far been no official declaration from the Nagaland Police Headquarters on the formation of the unit as a full-fledged fighting force, the standing strength of the STF is said to be around 200 currently.

As per sources, the unit will be equipped with special tactical weaponry and transport (most likely armoured vehicles) and will be reserved only for special operations.  

It will don a separate combat uniform different from the ones issued to regular armed battalions. Pictures doing the rounds on social media, the source of which could not be ascertained, show the STF personnel donning khaki and pale olive green fatigues in full combat gear.

For the time being, however, the unit is said to be waiting for the weapons and other equipments specially ordered to equip the personnel.

Asked whether the STF will be detailed for VIP security as well, the sources said that the Nagaland Police will have a separate unit known as the Special Security Group (SSG) for protecting VIPs. The SSG will comprise the existing personnel detailed for VIP security and will don the same uniform as the STF. As described by the sources, the focus of the SSG will on “retraining, fine-tuning and evolving” to form a specialised unit.  

The unit’s training and primary duty will be on protecting high value government officials. There was a catch to it however, as only the top functionaries of the elected government, police and the bureaucracy will be entitled to SSG protection.