RPF commandos get jungle, urban warfare training

Mumbai: The Railway Protection Force’s (RPF) commando force will get more teeth with 214 of them undergoing specialised training in jungle warfare and urban warfare in order to function better in both the environs.

The Naxal belt of Chandrapur-Balharshah falls under Central Railway along with Mumbai, making the specialised training important to counter such threats. The team of 214 commandos is being trained by Telangana police’s Greyhounds in Telengana and North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA) in Meghalaya. In addition to this, the urban warfare skills of railway commandos will be honed by Maharashtra’s Force1 in Pune. The entire training programme will span around 3 months.

These RPF commandos had been undergoing basic combat training till date. Now, however, a programme has been chalked out to teach them nuances of jungle warfare, operating GPS systems, thermal cameras and night vision devices.

Central railway has under its jurisdiction many iconic structures, such as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The Naxal-infested belt of Chandrapur-Balharshah also falls under its jurisdiction and officials said it was time that they had an all-weather combat force to tackle untoward situations.