Change strategy, end ops quickly, Shah tells NSG

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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Tribune News Service

Kolkata, March 1

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today asked the National Security Guard (NSG), the elite commando force raised for engaging terror groups, to focus on reducing time taken for completing an operation.

Inaugurating the 29 Special Composite Group Complex of the NSG at Rajarhat in Kolkata, Shah said the military strategy of the NSG must be changed to enable the commandos to finish the job at a faster pace than the time take by its personnel now.

Shah said he had seen two anti-terror operations — the Akshardham temple incident of 2002 and the 2008 Mumbai attack — from very close quarters as he was the Home Minister of Gujarat then. When terrorists strike an important target, they know that they would be killed in the process and they mentally prepare themselves for the eventuality, Shah said.

He said terrorists participating in such hits wants to lengthen the timespan of their engagement with security forces so that people take note of the attack and feel scared. “If the attack is ended quickly, it will mean defeat for the terrorists and victory for us,” Shah said.

The Mumbai attack lasted for four days before the perpetrators were neutralised by the NSG while the Akshardham temple siege was ended by commandos after 24 hours.