96 officers join CRPF, set to be deployed in Naxal hotbeds

Gurgaon: Ninety-six officers, including four women, were on Saturday commissioned in the country`s largest paramilitary force CRPF at a ceremony here.

The Directly Appointed Gazetted Officers (DAGOs) will join the paramilitary as Assistant Commandants (ACs) and will lead the troops of the force which is the mainstay for anti-Naxal operations in the country. Union Minister of State for Home RPN Singh took the salute at the passing-out ceremony at the officers` training academy at Kadarpur near here. The trainee officers have undergone a 55-week training in counter-insurgency operations, jungle warfare, human rights, shooting skills, unarmed combat among others. CPRF chief Pranay Sahay, during the event, asked the newly inducted officers to "lead from the front" and set a good example. AC Rajesh Kumar was adjudged the best all round trainee as he won the Home Minister`s Cup and the Sword of Honour. The CRPF, at present, has a strength of about 3-lakh personnel. Almost 70,000 CRPF troopers have been deployed for anti-Maoist operations duties in various Naxal hit states. PTI