National Security Guard to be deployed in J&K for anti-terror operations

With the rise in terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Ministry has taken a decision that the National Security Guard (NSG) will be engaged in anti-terror operations as and when required in the Valley. But the NSG, a special force under the Home Ministry, popularly known as 'Black Cats', has claimed that they have not yet received any official communique from the ministry but when they do, they "will act accordingly". The force also refuted reports that NSG had already deployed their men in Valley and stated that not a single unit of their force was present in the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir was placed under the governor's rule on Wednesday after the BJP withdrew their alliance with Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party.

The NSG expertise in counter-terrorism and counter-hijacking operations. Earlier, it was deployed in Kashmir in the 1990s when militancy was at its peak, but only in limited operations.

The move to deploy NSG commandos in Kashmir comes in the wake of increasing incidents of encounters where security forces have lost many soldiers during high-risk house intervention operations in densely populated localities.

The commandos use sophisticated Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine guns, sniper rifles, through-the-wall radar and C-4 explosives to eliminate holed up terrorists without causing much damage to the structure.

SP Vaid, Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir, on asked about the deployment of NSG in Kashmir, said, "I don't know. These reports are coming from the media. I haven't received any formal communication about this." NSG spokesperson, Rakesh Singh, denied all reports of deployment of their commandos in the Valley. "Not a single man from our force is in the Valley right now," Singh said.

While the Union Home Ministry is upbeat about deploying the NSG in the valley, counter-terror experts feel that the black cats would be helpful in a situation where room-to-room intervention is required.

The anti-terror operations conducted in the state are under the command of the Indian Army. All other security forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF) work under a unified command of the Army.

Deliberations over the NSG deployment has been going on for at least a year, sources said.

The NSG was raised in 1984 in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, which was carried out to flush out terrorists hiding in the Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar city.

The Black Cat commandos were deployed to tackle terrorists who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the January 2016 attack at the Pathankot air base as well as the terrorists who attacked the Akshardham temple in Gujarat.

There are around 7,500 personnel currently working with the NSG. -With inputs from agencies