Top-class training facility for Force One

The state department for home has earmarked Rs 300 crore for an ambitious plan to raise world class facilities for training commandos of

the two special units of Force One in urban and jungle warfare in Pune and Nagpur respectively.

The plan forms part of the Rs 500-crore proposal moved by state chief minister Ashok Chavan to the Union government during the chief ministers’ conference earlier this week. “The Government of India has agreed to release funds for these projects and we are now into discussions with the Union home ministry officials for finalising the release,” state’s additional chief secretary (home), Chandra Iyengar, told TOI on Friday.

She said: “We have marked Rs 300 crore for the two Force One units alone. The remaining amount asked for will be utilised for other purposes such as police training academies and strengthening of the force.”

Iyengar said, “The idea is to develop the two special commando units into a highly focused and state-of-the-art forces dealing with urban and jungle warfare situations.” These forces will operate on the lines of the country’s elite special response unit, the National Security Guards (NSG). “We are getting vital inputs from NSG as well as the Israeli forces, which have developed high expertise in urban combat,” she said.

The two units of Force One were raised following the audacious terror attacks on Mumbai in November last year. The rising instances of attacks by Naxalites in the tribal districts like Gadchiroli over the last one year also underlined the need for such special forces.

While the Force One in Pune is mandated for training commandos in urban combat, the unit in Nagpur — known as Anti Hawks — is for training in jungle warfare. The state government has been working in tandem with the Union government for developing apt training facilities for these units.