Barmer oilfields on terror alert, get 115 commandos

A team of 115 commandos has been deployed at India's onshore oil-producing installation in Barmer, Rajasthan, following information from the Intelligence Bureau that terrorists may target critical national assets near the Pakistan border.

A team of 115 commandos has been deployed at India's onshore oil-producing installation in Barmer, Rajasthan, following information from the Intelligence Bureau that terrorists may target critical national assets near the Pakistan border.

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In addition to Cairn India's Rajasthan oilfields, security alerts were issued to Mukesh Ambani's Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat and LN Mittal's joint-venture Bhatinda refinery in Punjab. All these installations are located within a radius of 80-150 km from the Pakistan border.

A statement issued by Cairn India on Saturday said that 115 Border Home Guard personnel from Rajasthan were formally inducted at Cairn India oil fields in Barmer on Friday.

"This is the first time trained commandos are being deployed at the 1.6-sq km Managla terminal and associated fields," Cairn said. "Prior to this, this group had undergone an intense commando course at the Rajasthan Police Training Centre in Jodhpur, under the direct supervision of Major General (Retd) Dalvir Singh."

The group of Thar Falcons had been inducted after tough commando training, capable of neutralising terror attacks.

The Barmer oil fields, which recently crossed the 100-million-barrel benchmark, belong to NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal's Cairn India.