CAG: elite police forces not trained, equipped

Trained to fire Kalashnikovs, but practising with self-loading rifles. This is the fate of the elite Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams in Karnataka.

The state’s other special police forces - Anti-Naxal Force (ANF), Anti-Sabotage Check (ASC) units and Coastal Police Stations (CPS) - are neither adequately equipped nor trained to the optimal extent, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that was tabled in the Assembly on Friday.

The audit findings come at a time when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has announced setting up a Homeland Security University to train security personnel.

SWAT teams were constituted in January 2015 in all districts to act as “first responder” during crisis situations. The audit found that of the 948 SWAT personnel, only 21-38% trained in specialised courses. The SWAT initiative “was yet to become a striking unit as intended,” the report stated.

The standard operating procedure stipulates that SWAT personnel must fire their primary (rifle/carbine) and secondary (pistol) weapons for a minimum five days a week. However, the CAG found that firing practice happened twice a year along with regular police personnel, with 0.303/SLR weapons and not modern AK-47 or INSAS weapons they were trained in.

Karnataka has 14 ANF camps carrying out routine combing operations. The ANF personnel are required to be trained in specialised courses such as counter insurgency and jungle warfare. However, audit found that less than half of ANF personnel across the 14 camps were trained in such courses. ASC teams are functioning in all districts as part of the District Armed Reserve to detect bombs in vital locations. In eight districts, the audit found that explosive testing kits had expired 5-7 years ago. The report says many door-frame metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors were dysfunctional.

The nine coastal police stations suffer from shortage of personnel, the audit found. They have 170 personnel against the sanctioned strength of 438. Of the nine CPS, four did not have patrolling boats and none had their own jetty.