Assam witnessed a historic moment today as 2551 Assam Police commandos of the five newly raised battalions took part in the Passing Out parade in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
It is a special law enforcement unit indeed, since the new Assam Police commandos have been trained by both the Indian Army & Assam Police.
In a colourful function held at the Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati, the Commandos displayed their capacities in terms of martial arts, hostage rescue, fighting skills, anti-insurgency operations, daring operations such as challenging rescue missions by slithering from choppers among others.
Delivering the keynote address, Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the Assam Police for strong policing in challenging times and helping in maintaining law and order.
Shah said, “Assam Police have faced the highest number of challenges in the entire nation. Be it communal clashes during the time of partition, refugee crisis, influx that has been going on since 7 decades, 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, violence by different insurgent groups, drugs trafficking, Assam has always been impacted by these. But Assam Police has a glorious history of facing, fighting and winning against such challenges. Today 2,551 new recruits will join Assam Police, this I hope will give new strength and power to the Assam Police. More than 900 Assam Police personnel have sacrificed their lives on the line of duty, I pay my heartfelt respects to them.”
Besides, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed his happiness over the fact that peace has now become permanent in the state.
“In the last 5 years in Assam’s law and order front there has been a big transformation. Peace accords have been signed with almost all the insurgent groups, youths are now connected to the mainstream and the ambit of AFSPA has been reduced too. There is intense vigil in the bordering areas, CAPF and the Assam Police is working in close tandem ever since Assam attained statehood,” Shah said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in his speech said, “Our government decided to raise 5 new commando battalions with a specific purpose. After 40 days of intensive training in 7 locations the 5 commando battalions are now fully ready to deal as they have acquired the necessary skills in combat operations and also for maintaining peace and tranquillity. With the induction of the new commando battalions, Assam Police now has gained more strength. Our commandos are fully fit to become the second line of defence in terms of the International Borders. I hope You (commandos) will raise the standards of Assam Police by performing your duties efficiently, responsibly with full courage and determination.”
For the first time in the history of Assam Police, the commando battalions of the state force have been trained with 72 hours survival tactics along with various military skills by the Army, enabling them to deal with any law and order situation.
The commandos have been trained with various categories of sophisticated arms.
The commandos, selected through a rigorous selection procedure by the Assam Police, have been trained by the Army at seven locations – Thakurbari, Gerua, Narengi, Darranga and Misamari in Assam and Shillong and Umroi in Meghalaya.
At Thakurbari, only the female commandos (around 288) were trained.
