Karnataka is gearing up for the first batch of all-women Garuda commandos of the state police. About 16 young women, mostly from villages across Karnataka, are now learning to shoot, handle terror, and improve their weapon-handling skills as part of the training.
The special operations team Garuda, Karnataka’s own anti-terror force, was formed in 2010, and for the first time this year, the department will be training 50 women to join the force.
The pre-induction training is underway at Bengaluru's Centre for Counter-Terrorism for the 16 women, under the Deputy Director, Lt Col Rohit Nayak, and his team, led by Superintendent of Police, M L Madhura Veena.
They are currently undergoing rigorous training for shooting, rope walking and handling anti-terror operations such as attacks, treating high-risk explosives, rescuing victims during an ambush and saving people from such attacks.
Karnataka Additional DGP (Internal Security) Bhaskar Rao on 5 February met the first batch of all-women Garuda commandos of the police.
Speaking to ANI, Bhaskar Rao said that the Garuda force of Karnataka police has got good training for the last eight years and has got weapons as well.
Also read: Indian Army Begins Recruitment Rally for Women Officers in Military Police in Pune
According to Bhaskar, the Karnataka government has sanctioned training to 170 commandos, of which 40 posts were vacant. "For those vacant posts, we thought of training women commandos. After the basic training, we keep them with us for three to four years. They will undergo continuous training about how to tackle terrorism activities. It is an investment in security. To tackle the terrorism activity we are giving training to our own police personnel,” the official added.
Explaining about the activities, Rao said the commandos have to undergo day and night training, which is different from regular training methods.
"After a woman commando undergoes training, she will be strong enough to tackle persons who have weapons on them. That will show the impact of training we have provided. When women are now working in all fields, we thought why not here," he added.
(Edited by Anju Narayanan)
