Bahadurgarh commando centre that turns men into supermen

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Bahadurgarh (Patiala), August 2

A 15-hour slog is all in a day's work for the 500 Punjab Police personnel receiving commando training here from serving, former police and sometimes even former Army instructors. 

The rigorous training schedule that takes up five-and-a-half days every week includes a 7-km run and training in unarmed combat, among other things.

The day starts for this group at 6 am when they are divided into teams to run a 7-km course in the 52-acre Bahadurgarh Fort — the training centre of Punjab's commandos. 

The distance of the run increases with each passing day. After the run, the men have their controlled-diet breakfast and then start the training sessions for everything from urban combat to sniper firing.

Members of the SWAT team and the commando units, who efficiently tackled the recent Gurdaspur terrorist attack, have at one point or the other been trained at Bahadurgarh.

A few years ago, special trainers from Israel had come to train the first batch of SWAT. The training module followed then is now a special part of the three-month training for these commandos as well. 

The beginning

Commandos in the Punjab Police were inducted in 1989. The idea was to establish a better-trained, better-equipped and specialised force to combat terrorism in the state.

On August 30, 1988, the 33rd Battalion of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) was raised. The basic aim behind establishing this battalion was to provide security to VIPs and to replace the depleted strength of PAP, on account of men placed on law and order and security duties. 

The 33rd battalion of PAP was renamed PAP Commando battalion in 1989 and then declared the first commando battalion in 1990. The headquarters of this battalion remained at Bahadurgarh, suburb of Patiala city (district).

Outdoor training

All the officers and men of the Punjab Police — before their induction into commando battalions — are given three months’ basic commando training at Police Commando Training School (PCTS), fort Bahadurgarh, Patiala.

During this commando course, the policemen are given training in physical conditioning, weapon training, martial arts, commando tactics, explosive and combat engineering, field craft, map reading and jungle warfare.

"When they come to us, they are in good health, but not physically fit. After five weeks of training, they are a thousand times better. Some of them are good at sniper shooting, others in urban combat — getting into buildings and taking on the enemy by surprise, while others are good at planning support," says Gurpreet Singh, head, Commando Training Centre, Bahadurgarh.