Delays and more delays

The deployment of the first batch of Force One — state’s very own elite commando unit designed and trained as a Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team — has been further delayed, reports Debasish Panigrahi.

The deployment of the first batch of Force One — state’s very own elite commando unit designed and trained as a Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team — has been further delayed.

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As per the original schedule, the first batch of about 216 commandos was to be deployed in Mumbai by October 10 after the completion of their training at Pune, which has been on for the last six months. The assembly elections delayed the arrival by three weeks.

Even after the poll results, the deployment has been further deferred as the new government is yet to assume power.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the special forces, S Jagannathan told Hindustan Times that though the force has completed its training and is ready for induction at the Kalina campus, the flag-off ceremony will take place only after the government had been formed. “We will have a grand parade at the Kalina ground to induct the force,” Jagannathan said. But he did not specify when.

State police sources said that the first batch of the force was ready and waiting for the chief minister and the new home minister to take charge, who will preside over the “grand parade”.

Jagannathan claimed that necessary infrastructure for lodging of the commandos had been spruced up at the Kalina police grounds.

The force will stay put at Kalina before they move to a new headquarters at Goregaon, which will be completed in a year’s time. The proposed 30-acre Goregaon special operations headquarters, to be built adjacent to that of the SRPF group VIII, would be shared by the Force One and the National Security Guards contingent.

Force One has been designed as a self-sufficient force and will have its own transport and back up including its own ambulances.