The Force One training facility at Pune has completed grooming its first batch of quick responders, comprising 60 commandos from Mumbai and 30 from Pune. The levels of training matched those of Force One, said S Jagannathan, DIG, Force One.

The initial plan was a specialised Force One team headquartered in Mumbai, with three regional bases across Maharashtra. That has now been shelved with the police deciding to give each commissionerate and sensitive districts a separate quick response team; only the state ATS had one so far.

Mumbai is the first commissionerate to have already launched its QRT, with 500 commandos posted and operating out of the five regions. Pune and Thane will be next. The other districts and commissionerates began picking personnel for their QRTs this month.

“We got a very good response from all regions with constabulary and officers wanting to join this new unit. Some very good candidates who will pass from the police academy this year will also be taken as officers for the newly formed QRTs,” said D Sivanandhan, Commissioner of Mumbai Police. He said a recent government resolution has announced that personnel deployed in these units will be paid one-and-a-half times the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations, with special insurance.

“The other added perk is the pride that this unit will command owing to the intense training and usage of advanced American weaponry and long distance snipers.”

Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (law and order) said, “We will see many more QRTs emerging as the training and expertise are shared. When a situation arises, we will first see these new QRTs taking stock of the situation and assisting the local police. Next, depending on the situation, we will see Force One taking up position, followed by National Security Guards.”

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