Prakasam SP Siddharth Kaushal reviews combat capabilities of the SWAT team

Ongole: Prakasam district Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal, who has formed the first-ever SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team at the district-level in the country, has reviewed its preparedness, practice and tactics, and offered suggestions and tips in shooting and tackling terrorists.

The SWAT team in Prakasam district is the first team in the country which was raised, trained and deployed entirely within the district for urban warfare and high-risk operations in accordance with the aspirations and encouragement of the Chief Minister and DGP of AP. The new tactics and strategies are introduced by starting rigorous training to strengthen the capacity of the Prakasam Police Department.

The SWAT team has been continuously doing its training programmes for operations, recces, real-life firing, etc even during the corona outbreak without getting affected by the Corona.

The SWAT team has already earned special recognition at the state and national levels. It has taken special training in room intervention, counter-ambush, and disaster response management. The SWAT commandos recently took training in the defence technique KravMaga, the world-class martial art at Hyderabad. The higher police officers of Telangana highly appreciated the SWAT commandos for their capabilities.

In recent times, the communal sentiments have been rising in the state and communal politics seem to be making their entry into the state. Earlier, the NIA (National Investigation Agency) team has caught ISIS terrorists in our neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and caught the masterminds of the serial bomb blasts in Hyderabad.

In 2013, one terrorist got nabbed in Tirupati pilgrimage of Andhra Pradesh. Keeping in view of all these trends and issues, Siddharth Kaushal reviewed the SWAT team's preparedness, practice and its tactics once again.

The SP reviewed the team performance and discussed with B Srikanth Naik, the new in-charge RI of SWAT, and given key instructions to follow on various situations such as hijack, attacks on religious structures, bomb situations etc.

The SP himself involved in the firing at Chimakurti Firing Range and showed the advanced firing tactics to the commandos. He suggested the team to focus more on special surveillance on the bomb detection and disposal.