NEW DELHI: The National Security Guards may be pulled out of Punjab if they land themselves in another fiasco like the one in which two of their colleagues were killed recently.
According to home ministry sources, the govt has taken serious note of the incident near Khem Karan where two NSG commandos became victims of the trap they had laid for the militants. The govt which was at one time considering deploying these commandos in Kashmir also has had second thoughts on their capability to fight militants.
VP Singh is said to have expressed concern over the way these elite commandos fell prey to militant bullets. The gravity of the situation can be further judged from the fact that the NSG chief N Subramaniam rushed to Khem Karan. Sources reveal that the govt has made it clear to the NSG top brass that another such incident would result in immediate withdrawal from the area.
The much talked about incident occurred in the early hours of July 6 when 15 Black Cat commandos laid an ambush for militants seeing seven militants approaching them these commandos challenged them and tried to hire them into a trap. But the militants proved smarter. They opened fire killing two commandos.
In the shootout which ensued two militants were also killed but five escaped. Of the two commandos killed one was Harish Singh Negi sub inspector on deputation from CRPF. A native of Garhwali, he had joined the force only five years ago. He was 26. The other was 21 years old K Anil Kumar, a constable of the Indo Tibetan Border Police. Hailing from Trivandrum, he joined the TBD two years ago.
This is the first time that NSG suffered causalities. Earlier during Operation Black Thunder in the Golden Temple in May 1988 and later in combat in Tarn Taran in August last year, they had managed to remain unscathed.
According to a police officer who has served in the NSG the Black Cats were ill equipped to fight militants. The reason he said was that most of the time these men were experienced only in guarding VIPs and lacked field experience. The NSG lack of preparedness can be judged from an incident which took place in 198 7. The intelligence bureau had information that militants who had sneaked into the capital were taking shelter in the Govindpuri area. The NSG was given three hours but it failed to strike.
Ultimately it was left to Delhi Police to apprehend the militants. The reason for the NSG to appear was that since it was Hindu festival a majority of them were out on passes.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 20, 1990
