Ongole : Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district police have completed a year since raising the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team on Saturday, in a bid to have the district’s own counter-terror and urban warfare force.”Prakasam district SWAT team is one of first such counter-terror forces to be raised in a predominantly rural district,a said Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal.Ongole town is 152 km south west of Vijayawada.He said SWAT teams are generally available only in big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and others but considering the goings on in India and the state, it is pertinent to have one in the district.”In the past one year, we have trained the SWAT team members in such a way that they can face any security situation. The team members have been trained intensely,” he said.The SP rewarded a few team members for exhibiting exemplary skills and valour as part of the training.Raised and deployed in the district by Kaushal, the SWAT team aims to undertake high risk operations which the normal district police cannot do.The SP said it is important for the district police to have some capacity to respond to situations, rather than completely depending on experts to arrive.The team has also equipped themselves with special training in room intervention, counter-ambush and disaster response management, including the Israeli martial art Krav Maga in Hyderabad.Kaushal and his commandoes celebrated the SWAT team’s anniversary by cutting a cake and ready to take any challenge thrown at them. Eom/249 words
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