Greyhounds division may weaken anti-naxal ops

Hyderabad: With the State bifurcated on June 2, the stage is set for both the elite Greyhounds (anti-Naxal force) and the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) to be distributed between the two States -- Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But, now the teething problem would be with the sharing of arms and ammunition and setting up of the Greyhounds training centre.

According to a senior police officer, the AP Police Housing Corporation (APPHC) spent a whooping Rs 5 crore to build the three-storey building of OCTOPUS at Begumpet in 2012. Now building a new set-up on a par with it and train new security personnel will take years.

Senior officials also gave a ‘warning’ signal of the Maoist threat and stressed on the need for quick measures to ensure that Naxals do not take advantage of the ‘changeover phase.’ Some of the officers feel that if Greyhounds is taken over by the Centre it would lose its ‘operational’ luster. The unified State, which devised tactical methods matching up to the guerrilla tactics adopted by the Maoists, proved to be successful in demolition of Maoists’ strongholds.

“A huge sum was spent on Greyhounds training and it was designed such a way that the force could take on the Maoists on their own turf and in their own style. The State police force, which has first-hand knowledge of the topography and is in a better position to gain intelligence from the local population, is considered for any counter-insurgency operations, but now with the Centre’s control over the force it will face a sea of problems,” said a senior officer requesting anonymity.

With regard to the decision to set up new operational hubs of the Greyhounds in the Naxal-infested areas and the Greyhound training Centre in Hyderabad as a common training centre for the two successor States for a period of three years raised a few eyebrows and prompted a range of concerns.

According to a former Greyhound Assault Commander, the quality of Greyhounds force will dwindle if such a decision is taken by the Centre.

Earlier, the DGP expressed that there was a possibility of expansion of Maoists in the event of bifurcation and this issue had to be given a lot more thought.

Weapons in the force are also a matter of concern. “At this juncture, it is very hard on our part to disclose this and only the division of personnel in these two wings is settled. We will get a precision on the division of some 2,500 odd weapons,” the officer, requesting anonymity.