Fifth NSG commandos hub to come up in Gujarat

Gujarat will be the new base for stationing the elite NSG counter-terror commandos with the government sanctioning a new hub in the state six years after similar centres were created in the country following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The latest National Security Guard hub will come up on a 41-acre land in Randesan village near state capital Gandhinagar and will house special counter-terror and counter-hijack strike units of these 'black cat' commandos in the western flank of the country alongside a similar base in Mumbai.

The chosen land is at a distance of 14 km and about 25 minutes drive from Ahmedabad International airport which will enable NSG teams to quickly get air-borne in an emergency.

The Union Home Ministry, according to official records, accorded final sanctions in this regard in September after which the state government has been asked to complete formalities before infrastructure works can begin here to raise commandos barracks and training facilities.

The government had created the first four NSG hubs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad in 2009, months after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks where 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists laid a violent siege of over 60 hours and killed 166 people.

The Gujarat NSG hub, sources said, is expected to get activated by November next year and a squad of 240 commandos will be stationed for movement at a short notice.

"The hub will reinforce the strength of the existing Mumbai base and will undertake specific strikes as and when required," a senior officer said.

Locating NSG in all the four corners of the country is aimed at rushing in the commandos for any counter-terror and counter-hijack operation in the shortest possible time.

The response time taken by the 'black cat' commandos force for countering the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 had come under criticism and therefore the government had decided to station the commandos at various locations so that crucial time was not lost in transit.

NSG was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency force to counter terrorist-sponsored activities.