NATIONAL SECURITY GUARDS

"Black Cats"

Special Thanks to India Today

All that is visible is a blur of black, the glint of metal and then two muffled cracks - shots from silencer-fitted machine pistols. The commandos of an elite counter-hijack squad of the National Security Guards (NSG), wearing menacing black hoods, have just stormed a Boeing-737, hijacked by the Hizbul Mujahideen at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, seconds after receiving the green signal from the Crisis Management Group.

Fourteen men from a Quick Reaction Team of the NSG, armed with the H&K 9mm MP-5 sub-machine guns, Glock 17 or the Sig Sauer pistols and poison-tipped knives, split into pairs and enter the plane through seven different entrance points, the doors and the cockpit.

The team takes the three hijackers by complete surprise. In fact the two patrolling the aisle are dead with soft-penetration, non-ricochetable ammunition in their heads even before they have time to react. And the third hijackers is disarmed in the cockpit by the No.1 team. Time taken for the entire operation; a mere 12 seconds.

A NSG commando dressed to kill

This is just one of the hundreds of realistic scenarios that India's premier counter-terrorist force simulates in daily drills; the key being fitness & surprise. "Surprise doesn't mean that the terrorists don't know we are coming. It is just that we have chosen the when, how and where. And it is with our chosen technique and weapon," says Colonel V.K. Dutta, who has been associated with the NSG since its inception in 1985.

This they dramatically proved during Operation Ashwamedh, the storming of a hijacked Indian Airlines (IA) aircraft at Amritsar airport on 24 April 1994, neutralising the hijacker, Mohammed Yousuf Shah, before he could react. But to reach that level of professional excellence isn't easy.

The basic training period at the organisation's training centre at Manesar, 50km from New Delhi, last ninety days. Only those who complete the entire course successfully are in inducted into the NSG and given further specialised training. The probation grind saps the toughest of recruits and the drop out rate is 50 - 70%.

For starters there is a 26-item, 780 metre obstacle course, with a qualifying time of 18 minutes. If a person completes the course in 25 minutes, he is deemed fit. The best do it in less than nine minutes. The obstacles have to do with heights, horizontal gaps and vertical scaling and are difficult to tackle in sequence. As if this is not enough, there's a target shooting session at the end of the obstacle course meant to test the aspirants' performance under severe stress and exhaustion.

A rope obstacle in a 26-item obstacle course - qualifying time for the course is 18 minutes but the best manage to do in just nine

In the Combat Room Shoot, the combatant enters a dark room, adjusts to the darkness and engages the target with either a torch light or a compatible laser image intensifier - all within three seconds. And not just in darkness but under the strobe lights of a discotheque as well, which are some of the most difficult shots to take. "We train them to take only head shots. And two at a go - the double tap system. It's to ensure neutralisation of the target. In the close hostage-terrorist situations we face there is little scope for body shots," says Colonel Dutta.

To hone shooting skills the training centre has an Electronic Combat Shooting Range built at a cost of over Rs.1 crore. Divided into 11 zones and spread over 400 metres, a recurit has to cover the distance in six minutes 30 seconds and fire at 29 targets along the way. The target exposure time is between two and three seconds and the targets are of all kinds - vertically rising, popping out, moving and rotating. The faster a person engages the target the more points he scores.

It is not just non-reactive targets that they practise against. In twin room shooting, rival combatants enter contiguous rooms and watch each other's movements on a screen. They are supposed to neutralise each other by shooting at the screen. The exercise test the combatants' response time and accuracy under near-field conditions.

Practising fast-reaction shooting from difficult angles at targets that pop up for split seconds to achieve absolute accuracy

The men are also put through a battle inoculation program where they have to stand right next to the target while one of their partners shoots at it. "They have to become used to live bullets flying under their noses. Also the person shooting is conscious that if he misses by even a couple of inches the bullet is going to hit his partner." says an instructor. They don't wear the kavach either, a bullet-proof vest, designed by Colonel Dutta himself. The vest can withstand an AK-47 or a 7.62mm carbine shot at point blank range.

Some of them have received additional training in Israel and use weapons like the 9mm Uzi sub-machine gun. The NSG's weapon of choice is the Heckler & Koch family of 9mm sub-machine guns, the 7.62mm PSG-1 sniper weapon and the H&K 512 12-gauge shotgun. They are also armed with state-of-the-art, day & night, surveillance gadgets and other sophisticated equipment.

Patterned on the lines of the German GSG9, the NSG is divided into two groups; the Special Action Group (SAG) and the Special Rangers Group (SRG). The SAG, which comprises 54% of the force, is the elite, offensive wing with all the members drawn from the Indian Army.

A NSG sniper takes aim at a target

The SRG has members on deputation from central police organisations like the CRDF, BSF, ITBP and the RAF. Its primary function is to play a supportive role to the SAF, especially in isolating target areas. For maintaining the young profile of the force, troops are rotated and sent back to their parent organisations after serving in the NSG for three to five years.

The smallest combat unit in the NSG's counter in the NSG's counter-terrorist operations is a hit which comprises of five members - two pairs, or partners and a technical support member. Four hits make a team which is under the command of a captain. The number of hits used for an intervention job depends on its complexity and the magnitude of the operation.

NSG members are assigned partners soon after completion of basic training and they train and even go on leave together. But as crack professionals, they are under orders to shoot their partner if he makes a single threatening step detrimental to the security of a VIP. On an average, a commando fires 2000 rounds of live ammunition during practise sessions throughout the year. This is apart from the two months that units have to spend in alert status and for whom it's a daily stint at the range. "I did more firing in a week of alert status than in my entire 10-year stay in the Army," says an NSG Officer.

Landing on a roof to storm a terrorist hideout

On an average a person fires close to 14,000 rounds over a period of two months in alert. The target strike rate has to be above 85% for a person to remain in the force. But for all this, apart from VIP duty, the NSG has seen few operations, the most notable among them being Operation Black Thunder I and II in the Golden Temple complex in 1986 & 1988 and Operation Ashwamedh in 1994.

Operation Black Thunder I was conducted on 30 April 1986 when the NSG commandos stormed the Golden Temple. Compared to Operation Bluestar in 1984, however, this was a tame affair; no weapons were discovered and nobody was killed.

Operation Black Thunder II was conducted on 12 May 1988 when 1000 NSG commandos had arrived at the temple. Black Cat sniper teams armed with Heckler & Koch PSG-1 rifles with night scope took up positions, including atop a 300-foot watertower. While commandos from the 51 SAG divided into assault squadrons, Special Ranger Groups were used to seal off the area around the temple and for tactical support. On May 15th, the NSG began its attack.

Machine gun fire and rockets were used to cut holes in the temple's minarets, followed by teargas canisters. Once it was determined that the towers had been abandoned, the SAG used explosives to break holes into the temple basement. By May 18th, all militants had surrendered at the cost of only 2 wounded Black Cats. In mid-1990 an NSG battalion was again deployed to Punjab to confont the Sikh rioters. There they began training the Punjab Police in counter-terrorism.

NSG commandos taking over a hijacked train

The NSG was raised by the Cabinet Secretariat as an armed force under the National Security Guard Act of 1985. They are popularly known as Black Cat Commandos because of the black nomex coveralls the black balaclavas they tend to wear while in the field and on parade. They also have a superb bomb disposal squad. They have a strength of around 7500 personnel.

The NSG is trained in the following;
• Neutralisation of specific terrorist threats in vital installations or any given area.
• Engaging and neutralising terrorists in specific situations.
• Handling hijack situations involving piracy in the air and on the land.
• Rescue of hostages in kidnap situations.

In addition, NSG provides security to high risk VIP’s, conduct anti-sabotage checks of venues of visits/public meetings of VVIP’s and VIP security. It has been reported that an NSG contingent is permanently stationed at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for any hijacking scenarios.

The NSG is an elite force providing a second line of defence to the nation. They have played a pivotal role in safeguarding the unity of India and have commendably foiled attempts of anti-national elements to tear apart the social fabric of the country. The NSG has maintained an edge over terrorist outfits in possession of latest technology and are considered among the finest special operations units in all of South Asia. However, as Colonel Dutta says, "We are like nukes. The ultimate back-up."

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