Maiden women team inducted into CoBRA commando unit

Gurgaon, February 6

A maiden contingent of 34 CRPF women personnel was on Saturday inducted into its specialised jungle warfare commando force CoBRA, which will soon be deployed in the anti-Naxal operations grid of the country.

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) was raised under the CRPF in 2009 for undertaking intelligence-based jungle warfare operations. It has been an all-male affair for this unit till now.

The majority of CoBRA teams, whose commandos are expected to have tough mental and physical attributes, are deployed in various Maoist violence-affected states, while a few are based in the northeastern states for undertaking counter-insurgency operations.

A ceremonial event was held at the forces’ camp in Kadarpur village here with CRPF Director General AP Maheshwari witnessing combat drills performed by the chosen women as he underlined that it was important to defeat gender-based beliefs and stereotypes.

The personnel, earmarked for CoBRA, have been chosen from the existing six all-women battalions of the force, a CRPF spokesperson said.

“These women will undergo a pre-induction training for three months and subsequently will be embedded with CoBRA units deployed in Naxal violence affected districts of Chhattisgarh like Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur,” the spokesperson said.

An all-women brass band of the country’s largest paramilitary was also commissioned during the ceremony. — PTI