Baikhura (South Tripura) : Tripura State Rifles (TSR) troopers, the leading force in combating insurgency in the state, has been entrusted with the responsibility of providing security during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, a top official said here on Monday.
?As far as Commonwealth is concerned, I think the level of training, skills of by boys is apt for such sort of duties,” Director General of Tripura police Pranay Sahaya said.
“It is a morale booster as Tripura is one state and the other being Nagaland from where six companies of mahila police (women police) have been taken. But it is only from Tripura where male police have been selected,” he added.
The TSR troppers have been given special training on counter-insurgency in urban areas for the purpose of CWG so that they can give their best performance during the game.
The police chief informed that following the request from the Union home ministry, a battalion (around 1,000 troopers) of TSR is expected to take up security-related responsibility during the Commonwealth Games in and around the Games venues and Games village on Sep 15.
They would remain there till Oct 20.
The Games will take place from Oct 3-14 in New Delhi.
O P Yadav, Commandant in-charge of training , said, ?I am training my soldiers to be physically fit and be courageous and tolerant. We are also teaching the techniques of urban and rural areas counter-insurgency operations by weapon handling, firing IED along
with VIP security, disaster management, stress management, human rights, and public and police relations, with special emphasis on jungle training.?
TSR’s formation and training have been modelled on the Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Rifles.
Over the years, the elite state force has increasingly become a key combatant force to flush out the three-decade-old militancy from Tripura.
Till now, TSR troopers have successfully discharged election-related duties in many states in India, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
TSR due to its success, skill and accountability towards people’s safety, has been perceived as a model force by various Central Para Military Force (CPMF) and various state governments.
The TSR was constituted in 1984 to counter terrorism in the northeastern state – 75 per cent of its troopers are from Tripura while the remaining are from across the country.
At present, there are 13 TSR battalions in Tripura, of which, nine are Indian Reserve Battalions category, which means they can be deployed anywhere in India as and
when required.
TSR runs its own counter-insurgency and jungle guerrilla warfare institute at Kachucherra in Dhalai district in northern Tripura, similar to the army’s Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte in western Mizoram.
Troopers of the TSR a few months back had bagged all the 14 top positions in the Police Commando Instructor Course (PCIC) at the National Security Guards (NSG) campus in Manesar, Haryana outshone their counterparts from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Assam, Delhi and Chhattisgarh in quick shooting, commando actions, running
and other events.