The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Men in Black surface at regional hub

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Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Men in Black surface at regional hub

Suresh Krishnamoorthy

-Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

‘Salaami shastr’ : The NSG commandos ‘presenting arms’ at the launch of their regional hub. (Right) Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Home Minister P. Sabitha Reddy, having a hearty laugh as they field questions at a press conference post-launch in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: As they made voluble sound, throwing up small clouds of dust in what they called the ‘3-step march’, the Men in Black literally evoked awe among the guests.

Armed to the teeth, black from top to bottom, faces masked, they stomped, holding their silenced versions of Heckler & Koch MP 5 sub-machine guns, the most widely used weapon of its class, after the Israeli Uzi.

Even as they were waiting for the VVIPs to arrive, they posed for the still photographers and videographers of the print and electronic media, respectively. Marching with clock-like precision they came to a halt and as the Officer Commanding Lt. Col. Sandeep Sen roared ‘Daine mood’, their heels swivelled to the right.

The men stood in front of the flagpost, as Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy unfurled the flag of the elite, National Security Guard, on Wednesday morning. A while later, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram ceremonially handed over a scroll to Lt. Col. Sen, marking the operationalisation of the NSG’s regional hub here.

While 53 per cent of those in the NSG are drawn from the Army, the rest are drafted from para-military forces. The difference between the two categories ends there. For, regardless of which unit they belong to, once they are NSG men, they undergo the toughest training ever.

The NSG commandos, like most global anti-terror crack teams, use the MP 5 version of the German Heckler & Koch sub-machine gun or the Austrian Glock, or the Swedish-made PSG sniper rifles, depending on the situation.

Every commando is a sharpshooter and while the first shot is intended to take out the left or right eye of the terrorist, the second goes bang into the forehead. There are no quarters given or taken.

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