New Delhi: Foreign athletes and officials
who participated in the Commonwealth Games will be provided
security till they leave the country by elite black commandos
of the NSG, which has even cancelled its Raising Day
celebrations for the job.
The force, which was established in 1984, celebrates
its Raising Day every year on October 16 but as the
athletes and delegates will be departing at regular intervals
the commandos of the force will be deployed till October 18.
"In view of the Commonwealth Games, the boys have been
asked to execute their duties till October 18 by the Home
Ministry. The raising day has been postponed to a later date
on October 22," National Security Guard (NSG) Director
General R K Medhekar told PTI.
"Some of the boys who will participate in the Raising
Day events are also deployed for the games and being a small
force we will need them too," he said.
Medhekar, who took over as the chief of the commando
force in September this year, said he was satisfied with the
performance of his men who had trained exclusively for the
special duties of the Commonwealth Games.
"The commandos had trained for almost a month for the
specialised duties the force is known for. There has been an
excellent cooperation between all the forces and the Delhi
Police for ensuring foolproof security during the games," he
said.
The NSG commandos have been deployed for providing
proximate security to athletes, delegates and other officials
during their movement while they were also deployed for
specialised anti-terror and anti-sabotage duties at various
games venues including eliminating air-borne threats.
The commandos-- drawn from NSG's anti-terror and
counter-hijack squads-- were also stationed for an immediate
insertion at a trouble spot through air.
The NSG will now celebrate its 26th Raising Day at its
garisson in Gurgaon's Manesar on October 22.
Over one lakh security personnel were deployed for
securing the Games including about 175 companies (17,500
personnel) of paramilitary forces, 3,000 commandos, 100
anti-sabotage teams, 200 dogs and 15 bomb disposal squads.
Besides, about 150 personnel of the Delhi Police's
Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) were trained by the
IAF and the NSG to shoot down suspicious manned and unmanned
"flying objects".
PTI
First Published: Friday, October 15, 2010, 18:43