With the terrorists being ’sanitized’ and reports coming out on how slow and confused the Indian armed forces were, I am going to try and establish what makes up our armed forces and tell you what they are armed with -
Indian Police
They are by far the most ineffective unit when it comes to dealing with hostile armed terrorists. Now, don’t me wrong, they are pretty effective when it comes to hunting down petty criminals. However, being heavily underfunded and corrupt, these should definitely not be our first line of defense when it comes to terrorists. Keep in mind that most of the constables don’t have a weapon and are given a stick (lathi) instead. The weapons training is just a formality and ones who do have guns, are given bolt action Lee Enfield rifle clones from WWI era. The ‘officers’ are given 9mm Berettas and indian made pistols which are more of a place holder than anything else.
NSG (National Security Guards) (equivalent to SWAT, SAS, GSG, etc)
This is a special response unit made up of SAG (Special Action Group) and SRG (Special Rangers Group). These are our primary anti-terrorist squads and double up for protecting important politicians and the only units to be tactically trained to fight terrorists. This unit should be our first line of defense when under attack. They are armed with MP5s, PSG1, and some variations of AKs and INSAS rifles.
MARCOS (Marine Commandos) (equivalent to Navy SEALS)
These are specialized navy commandos trained for stealth and combat effectiveness. They are usually armed with 7.62mm assault rifles, Sterling MK4 assault rifles, cyanide-tipped crossbows and grenades. They also have a quick reaction section which is armed with AK-47 and MP5s for close quarter combat. This unit was also used to flush out the terrorists in the recent attacks in Mumbai.
ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) (equivalent to DHS)
This is more of a tactical intelligence unit focusing on preventing attacks on Indian soil. This squad is made up of ex RAW agents and top police personnel. They aren’t really armed to kill but are effective in what they do.
RAW (Research and Assistance Wing) (equivalent to CIA)
One of the most secretive intelligence agencies in the world(the way it should be). I doubt anyone except themselves know what they are armed with but my guess is that they are armed with pretty much everything under the sun or whatever is needed.
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Note that most of the casualties in the recent attacks on Mumbai were before the NSGs and MARCOS were deployed to counter the terrorists. There have been reports that the terrorist weren’t stopped initially despite the presence of a large number of police personnel. Being heavily outgunned, I’m not surprised that the police were running for cover when the terrorists opened fire. The situation was back in control once the more elite and tactically trained teams from the NSG and MARCOS were deployed.
Everything that I have said so far is an aggregate of all the reports that I have read so far on the incident. I figured that this is least that I could do shed some light on the recent events and pay tribute to the armed forces protecting our country. For more information on the armed forces, check out – http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/
