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Railways launch its own commando force

Last Updated 14 August 2019, 14:31 IST

Indian Railways inducted the first batch of its own commando unit on Wednesday and it will be deployed in Maoist hit Chhattisgarh.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who inducted the Commandos for Railway Safety (CORAS) here in an event, said that national transporter would set up its own commando training unit at Jagadhri in Haryana.

The CORAS unit will comprise 1,200 special trained men from Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF).

The minister also said a network of CCTV cameras will be set up at every station. The link of these cameras will be given to the local stations, GRP, RPF, divisional office and even to the minister's office.

"The CORAS will be deployed in critical and sensitive areas of the country including left-wing extremists hit areas, Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states to protect passengers as well as railway assets," Director General, Railways Protection Force (RPF), Arun Kumar said.

In order to deal with security challenges faced by critical urban centres, the apex body of all zonal railways, the Railway Board, had issued directives to all its 18 zones calling for the formulation of the commando unit, CORAS.

The CORAS is headed by the Director-General of the RPF and is armed with special uniforms with bullet-proof jackets, helmets and sophisticated weapons.

The commandos have trained in specialisation in handling landmines and improvised explosive devices, hostage rescue, sniping and breaching.

The men of CORAS have been trained in the NSG academy and Greyhounds. Greyhounds specialize in anti-insurgency operations against Maoists.

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(Published 14 August 2019, 13:55 IST)

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