Noida police train SWAT team for Games security

To ensure foolproof security measures for the guests visiting Gautam Budh Nagar during the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the Noida police have decided to have a Special Weapons And Techniques (SWAT) team in addition to the team of commandos being trained for the October event.

The police chief of the district believes the SWAT team will strengthen the security arrangements during the Games.

Talking to Newsline, Ashok K Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Budh Nagar, said the SWAT team will be trained at the district police lines.

“We have shortlisted 25 candidates for the SWAT team. The training of those selected to be part of the elite team will be more rigorous than normal commando training,” SSP Singh added.

The police chief said training will be conducted with specialised and high-technology weapons, such as AK -47, Insas rifles, Glock pistols and bullet-proof shields to name a few.

“We are going through a list of the high-tech weapons available with the UP Police. For example, using of bullet shields is an art which has to be learnt through rigorous training,” added Singh.

The training of the selected SWAT commandos will be conducted under the guidance of the Aligarh police SWAT team. It is the only district in UP that has 20 well-trained SWAT commandos, Singh said.

“I had gone to Aligarh to check the level of training the SWAT team there had. I was impressed with their reaction time and use of high-tech weapons,” SSP Singh said.

“Considering the importance of providing adequate security to the international guests and the potential threat to the spectators and players, the team will prove worthy in training our SWAT team members,” the senior police officer said. The Noida police is already training 30 commandos, who are being guided by experts from Manesar training camps.

Regarding the difference between the SWAT and the commando team, SSP Singh said the SWAT team will get more high tech weapons for specialisation.