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National Security Guards
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The National Security Guard (NSG) is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986. It works completely within the Central Paramilitary Force structure.
The NSG operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Home Affairs and is headed by the Director General of the Indian Police Service (IPS).
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Encyclopedia
The National Security Guard (NSG) is a Special Response Unit in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities and was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986. It works completely within the Central Paramilitary Force structure.
The NSG operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Home Affairs and is headed by the Director General of the Indian Police Service (IPS). Recruitment is done from the Paramilitary forces of India and the Indian Armed Forces.
The NSG members are also known as Black Cats because of the black nomex coveralls and balaclavas or assault helmets they wear. Due to a lot of criticism for the time taken for the NSG commandos to arrive at Mumbai from their base in Manesar, Haryana in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Government of India has decided to set up NSG bases in major cities across India like Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Functions
The NSG's roles include protecting VIPs, conducting anti-sabotage checks, rescuing hostages, neutralizing terrorist threats to vital installations, engaging terrorists and responding to hijacking and piracy.
The NSG is much sought after for VVIP security for high-risk VVIPs in India; this task is done by the Special Rangers Group of the NSG. The Special Action Group is the strike force in anti-terrorist and anti-hijack operations, supported by the SRG and others.
The NSG's specific goals include:
- Neutralization of terrorist threats
- Handling hijacking situations in air and on land.
- Bomb disposal (search, detection and neutralisation of IEDs).
- PBI (Post Blast Investigation)
- Engaging and neutralizing terrorists in specific situations.
- Rescue of hostages
The NSG has a total personnel strength of about 14,500. The NSG was modeled on the pattern of the SAS of the United Kingdom and GSG-9 of Germany. It is a task-oriented force and has two complementary elements in the form of the Special Action Group (SAG) and the Special Ranger Groups (SRG). All the personnel are on deputation.
The SAG is the offensive wing drawn from members of the Indian Army. The SRG consists of members from other paramilitary forces such as the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and State Police forces and other units.
The NSG Training Centre is a Centre of Excellence and the National Bomb Data Centre holds international conferences. Both are located at Manesar in Haryana. The NSG Headquarters Exchange is located at Mehramnagar, Palam.
History
The NSG was established under the National Security Guard Act of 1986. The act was in response to the 1984 Operation Blue Star - the operation of the Indian military to remove Sikh separatists who had seized control of the Golden Temple. The operation involved a significantly large number of military combatants and casualties, numbering in few hundreds, also involved civilians. The temple also suffered heavy damages. The operation highlighted the need for a force specialising in counter-terrorist operations with greater efficiency.
The NSG commandos were first used to combat the insurgency movement in the Indian state of Punjab in 1985. They are now primarily utilised for counter-terrorist activities and have been continuing major combat operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NSG is not often deployed publicly, with most of its operations still remaining classified.
Some of the NSG's previous operations include:
- May 12, 1988 — assault on the Golden Temple during Operation Black Thunder II
- April 25, 1993 — rescue of hijacked plane Indian Airlines Boeing 737 during Operation Ashwamedh
- October, 1998 — major combat missions in Jammu and Kashmir
- July 15, 1999 — rescue of 12 hostages held by armed terrorists who had stormed an apartment complex in Kashmir and killed 4 people
- September 25, 2002 — Operation Vajra Shakti to free hostages held by terrorists who had killed 26 worshippers at the Akshardham temple in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They suffered their first combat death in this operation. Another commando, who was seriously injured and was in a coma, died after 18 months.
- November 26 2008 Mumbai attacks — Operation Black Tornado and Operation Cyclone to flush out terrorists & rescue hostages after multiple attacks across Mumbai, India. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Gajender Singh Bisht of the Special Action Group lost their lives during the operations.
- As on December 2008, Germany offered to give additional assistance and training to the NSG by the famous GSG-9.
Combat gear
H&K MP-5 Machine Gun (9mm bullets @ the rate of 800 RPM, effective range 50M)
H&K PSG-1 Sniper Rifle (7.62mm bullets @ the rate of 30 RPM, effective range 600M)
Uzi Sub Machine Gun (9mm bullets @ the rate of 600 RPM)
Glock 17 Pistol (9mm bullets)
Sig p226
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Other devices may include Sig 552, H&K 512 12-gauge shotgun and night vision device.
Former Chiefs
The following had commanded the NSG in the past:
- Sh RT Nagrani
- Sh MC Mishra
- Sh KL Watts
- Sh SD Pandey
- Sh HP Bhatnagar
- Sh VP Marwah
- Sh DVLN Ramakrishna Rao
- Dr S Subramanian
- Sh RK Wadehra
- Sh BJS Sial
- Sh AK Tandon
- Sh RD Tyagi
- Sh GS Pandher
- Sh TR Kakkar
- Sh Nikhil Kumar
- Sh Gurbachan Jagat
- Dr R Rajagopalan
- Sh RS Mooshahary
- Sh AK Mitra
- Dr GS Rajagopal
- Jyoti Krishna Dutt
- NPS Aulakh (Present)
In fiction
See also
External links
- Official Website of NSG**
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