Agartala, Nov. 13 (IANS): The elite Tripura State Rifles (TSR), which had earlier performed election duties in more than 16 states, besides at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, would be posted in the national capital soon, a senior official said on Wednesday.
“The third battalion of TSR would be posted in the national capital (New Delhi) under Union Home Ministry. For the first time Tripura’s elite force is to perform internal security related task for a long time (other than election duties) outside the state,” G.S. Rao, Inspector General of Police (TSR and Operations) told IANS.
He said that the TSR battalion led by a commandant would be deployed in Delhi for three years and they would work in the national capital under Delhi Police.
Another senior police official said that around 1,000 TSR troopers would leave the state for Delhi later this month or early December.
“In consultation with the Union Home Ministry (MHA) and the Tripura government, the TSR troopers are being posted in Delhi. The Union Home Ministry would bear the salaries, allowances and other costs of these forces during the entire period of posting in Delhi,” the official stated.
He said that following the request of the MHA, around 370 (four companies) troopers of TSR would also be posted in election-bound Jharkhand. The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly would go to polls in five phases between November 30 and December 20 with counting of votes on December 23.
According to the official, 900 jawans (10 companies) of TSR led by two commandants had performed duties during the October 21 Haryana election.
Besides providing security during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the India Reserve (IR) battalions of TSR were earlier sent to Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Jharkhand, Haryana and to the north-eastern states, to provide security during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Trained in counter-insurgency operations, the TSR was raised in March 1984 to deal with terrorism. Seventy-five per cent of its personnel are from Tripura, while the remaining are from across the country.
The TSR has 12 battalions, of which nine are IR battalions. The Tripura government has recently decided to disband two battalions (11th and 12th) of TSR and amalgamate the jawans of the two battalions with other battalions and units.
The Union Home Ministry has recently sanctioned two more IR battalions of TSR and the Tripura government has started the process to recruit personnel for the two fresh TSR battalions sanctioned.
“The IR battalions can be posted anywhere in the country as and when the Union Home Ministry asks the concerned state government,” a senior TSR officer said.
The TSR has demonstrated excellent performance in Tripura in taming the four-decade-old terrorism in the north-eastern state.
