Gurgaon: Centre for anti-terrorism studies to come up at NSG Manesar

The National Security Guard, the country’s elite counter terrorism force, is likely to get a centre for counter terror studies for improving tactics to tackle terrorism and improve the intellectual capabilities of commandos trained at the centre.

Director General of NSG, Sudhir Pratap Singh, said this on Monday during the 33rd Raising Day celebrations of the force at the Manesar campus, 24km from Gurgaon.

“Our commandos are warriors and we want to make them ‘scholar warriors’. For their intellectual progress, we want to establish a counter terrorism think tank in the form of a centre for anti-terrorism studies,” Singh said.

The talks for setting up the centre, to be named ‘Centre for Anti-terrorism Studies’, are on with the Union government and it is likely to become a reality by next year, said officials on the sidelines of the event that saw the display of the tactical prowess of the ‘Black Cats’.

Singh said to give recognition to the institute and a sense of pride to its trainees, the centre should be given the status of ‘National Institute of Counter Terrorism’.

The force, which was raised in 1984, holds grand celebrations every year to mark its Raising Day.

Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, who was the chief guest at the event, said the NSG is also training the police personnel of several states and there is a need to constantly update its skills and tactics. He said terrorism is a global menace and all countries need to fight it together.

“To become a ‘Zero Error Force’ should be the aim of the NSG. We are thrilled and proud to have such a force to protect us,” said Naidu while addressing a gathering of families of NSG martyrs, uniformed personnel and civil officers.

Singh said that in its 32 years of history, the centre has trained about 80,000 commandos. The centre has participated in 116 operations and got 53 gallantry awards. So far, 19 NSG personnel have been martyred in various operations.

The force has so far provided protection to 53 VVIPs and is providing protection to 15 ‘special’ people. For this specialised task, a separate vertical, close protection force, was established.

Commandos displayed various drills, including sky diving, neutralising terrorists, canine power, aerial skills, and yoga.