CRPF's Cobra Force to train ANF

Home Secretary Raghavendra Auradker told Deccan Herald that the department had approached the CRPF a few months ago and they wrote back recently, stating that their anti-naxal special team, the Cobra Force, of CRPF is willing to train the State ANF personnel.

However, the recruitment of 500 people might prove an elaborate process for the State.
S M Jaamdar, Principal Secretary, Home Department, said: “Very few people from Karnataka qualify for the posts of constables in the Central armed forces. Last year, around 32,000 people had applied for these posts and only 900 qualified and got their appointment letters.”

Staff Selection Commission Regional Director Rajagopalan said: “Of the 32,000, only 9,300 had gone past the first round (physical test).”

The Home Department had, about two months ago, decided to raise a “dedicated force” to fight naxals in the State, although it maintains that the activity of ultras is not as intense as in the neighbouring states.

Jaamdar had conceded that the present Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) was an ad hoc arrangement. “Every two to three months, a few companies of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) are sent to these areas on a rotation basis,” he had said, adding the State wanted to do away with such arrangements.

The new unit is aimed at replacing what is now an untrained unit –– the Special Task Force (STF), which was converted to ANF, following the death of Veerappan.

Further, Jaamdar said that the Cobra Force, which specialises in jungle-warfare and other techniques required to efficiently fight extremists, will provide intensive training to the State’s personnel with a special focus on the use of equipment.

The unit will be equipped with AK-47, AK-53, SLRs, night-vision goggles, bullet-proof jackets, helmets and other technical aids, besides 25 to 30 bullet-proof four-wheel drive vehicles.

No arms can be mounted on these vehicles currently and it only allows the personnel to carry automatic rifles.

Jaamdar said that the unit was being set up to meet the current requirements and would be completely conducive for upgrading.

While the jurisdiction of the unit will be all of the 11 naxal-affected districts –– Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Kolar –– a centralised unit for co-ordination and planning of operations will be set up at Karkala in Udupi district.