Nod to NSG centre at Pathankot, search for land on

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, January 22

The Union Government has decided to set up a regional centre of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) at Pathankot for which it has asked the Punjab Government to provide land free of cost. Gurdaspur MP Sunny Deol had written to Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the matter while his predecessor Sunil Jakhar had taken up the initiative.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gurpreet Singh Khaira said he had received a letter from the Home Secretary, Punjab, asking him to identify land for the proposed centre. “We are on the job. We prefer land in the vicinity of the Air Force Station,” he said. In 2017, Jakhar had met Prime Minister Office (PMO) officials who assured him that his demand was being looked into. The then MP had voiced concern at repeated attempts by Pakistan to sneak in militants from across the border. “Jakhar had already done the spade work,” said an official.

The NSG is a counter-terrorism unit. Raised in October 1984, it falls in the category of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and its core operational capability is drawn from the Army. The NSG was first deployed in the area on January 2, 2016, when four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants laid siege to the high- security Pathankot Air Base.

Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva said the Municipal Corporation was willing to provide land at Deriwal village adjacent to the Air Force Station. “We are in the process of working out the modalities,” he said.