NSG, India's elite anti-terror force, gets a new hub at Ibrahimpatnam in Hyderabad

India's elite counter-terrorist force National Security Guard (NSG) has a new centre at Ibrahimpatnam in Hyderabad to reduce the reaction time in case of any terror attack in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The 28 Special Composite Group (SCG) Complex of NSG at Ibrahimpatnam was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion Singh lauded the NSG calling it a world-class ‘zero error’ force which is capable of countering any kind of attack in the minimum response time.

The NSG hub at Ibrahimpatnam is the seventh after New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gandhinagar. The Ibrahimpatnam centre just like its counterparts in other parts of the country has state of the art training facilities of global standards. The NSG comprises of army and paramilitary forces and has multi-dimensional responsibility of countering terrorist attacks/hijack attempts and also providing proximate security. 

Singh added that terrorism which has become universal and is posing new challenges through social media too, and security forces need to strengthen their technical capabilities to counter these challenges. He also congratulated the 16-member NSG team which would attempt to scale Mount Everest in 2019. He said NSG is better than the best forces, and expressed confidence that the force would counter any challenge efficiently and effectively.

NSG Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, a 1984-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Telangana cadre, said the NSG has conducted joint exercises with forces of USA and France as part of its capacity building efforts. The NSG has countered 115 terrorist attacks and has been awarded three Ashok Chakras, three Kirti Chakras, three Shaurya Chakras, 109 police medals, which stand as a testimony to the NSG’s competence. The NSG hub at Ibrahimpatnam, Hyderabad is a green campus spread over sprawling 200 acres and constructed in an eco-friendly manner, he added. A demonstration to showcase the capabilities of the NSG personnel in combat, attacks and other situations were also organised.

The NSG was modelled on the pattern of the elite SAS of the UK 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) comprising Army personnel and the Special Ranger Groups (SRG), comprising personnel drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces/State Police Forces. The ethos of the NSG are - pursuit for excellence, lead from the front, zero error. speed, surprise, stealth, precision and accuracy.