Commando squad under cloud

MUMBAI, September 4: As crime continued its bloody march in the monsoon this year, elite police squads being groomed to break the back of...

MUMBAI, September 4: As crime continued its bloody march in the monsoon this year, elite police squads being groomed to break the back of the underworld have stopped training on account of the weather.

The commando squads, which were formed in April to rein in an increasingly belligerent underworld, have proved a no-show. Almost half the 64 policemen enlisted for training have not been given postings commensurate to their training, nor have new batches been assigned for training.

After 20 shootouts were reported in the first three months this year, CP R H Mendonca mooted grooming a select few policemen as commandoes to nab armed gangsters. The policemen, to be trained by retired colonel M P Choudhary, were to be inducted into five special operation squads SOS in April this year, said joint CP crime, D Sivanandan.

The SOS were supposed to be provide back-up to the anti-extortion cells and help in laying trap to arrest the extortionists. And after the recent spate of robberies in jewellery shops, sometrained commandoes were also deployed in buddy pairs8217; on motorcycles. But SOS or no SOS, 52 shootouts have been reported till August 31 since April 1, including 43 killings.

In the last four months, only two batches have completed the five week training programme. The training of the first batch comprising 26 policemen was completed in May, while the second batch of 38 policemen passed out in July. Those who have been trained are posted at the police control or put on routine bandodast duty. 8220;There is no achievement so far,8221; admitted Sivanandan, adding 8220;But they will definitely produce results soon.8221; The department as a whole has been doing commendable work, claimed Sivanandan, and it doesn8217;t matter if these particular commandoes have accomplished nothing.

While colonel Choudhary said training had been temporarily halted due to the rains, other senior officers said there was a resource crunch. Still others said personnel could not be spared for training as they had to be put on bandobast forSrikrishna report and for Ganeshotsav. However, Sivanandan stressed that 8220;Training is an ongoing process which will continue.8221; As for deployment, that, said commissioner Mendonca, is 8220;part of operational detail which cannot be discussed.8221; The force behind recent encounters have been local police, not the squads trained to execute them. 8220;Commandoes are needed for rescuing hijacked planes or launching assaults on committed terrorists. For city policing, we need information, the most essential thing for battling gangster,8221; pointed out an encounter specialist8217;. Added Choudhary, 8220;I trained them in physical fitness, accurate shooting, proper planning and other talents. But information is of utmost importance.8221;