Uttarakhand becomes fourth state with women’s police commando unit

The 22 women commandos have been trained in rock climbing, counter-terrorism, bomb disposal, unarmed combat and others.

Uttarakhand on Wednesday became the fourth state in the country to have a women’s police commando unit after Nagaland, Kerala and West Bengal.

Women police commandos demonstrating their skills at their launch on Wednesday in Dehradun. (HT PHOTO)

The 22 women commandos began training which included rock climbing, counter-terrorism, bomb disposal, unarmed combat and others.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat who launched the commando unit at Police Lines in Dehradun said the development was a major step towards women’s empowerment in the state.

"It is a matter of immense pride that Uttarakhand is the fourth state in the country to have a female commando unit. It will definitely inspire the young girls of the state to choose defence as a career option without any hesitation. They have already been at the forefront in many fields especially in the hilly areas," Rawat said.

The chief minister also spoke about imparting primary self-defence training to girls studying in schools and colleges.

"We will try to provide the training in the coming days as it has become important apart from education in society. The authorities will chalk out a plan for it after which we would provide it on a large scale across the state," he said.

"The anti-national forces today are also recruiting female cadres for their ill intentions. To tackle them, a female commando unit was much-needed," he said.

"Women in Uttarakhand have been playing an active role in many fields and now a female commando unit is just another shot in their arm for empowerment," said Kumar.

During the event, CM also launched 148 motorcycle patrol units named Cheetah for policing activities in Dehradun.

The CM and other dignitaries at the event also paid their tributes to the two state police personnel who lost their lives in the Chamoli flash flood on February 7.