The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has announced that 32 women commandos will soon be deployed to the security detail of leaders based in Delhi who fall under the Z+ category. The list of leaders in the Z+ category includes home minister Amit Shah, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s wife, Gursharan Kaur, among others.
“In 2019, we started a VIP security wing and initially it had only men. However, we started training women to be part of the team, and now the women will be posted with the VIPs by the second week of January,” a spokesperson from the CRPF told Hindustan Times. This special wing of the CRPF took over VIP protection responsibilities in 2019 after a change in laws limited the role of Special Protection Group (SPG) to only provide security to the current or former prime minister and their families for only five years. The SPG also had women officers.
The 32 women commandos will be deployed now on a needs basis, the spokesperson also revealed. Their duties will include house protection, frisking female visitors and other overall security detail jobs of the VIP’s house during their tours. Like their male counterparts, the women commandos will each carry arms, ballistic protection equipment, and other gadgets required while they’re on the job.
*Image used for representative purpose. Image courtesy: Twitter/allindiaradionews.