According to government sources, up to 450 drivers of the CRPF’s VIP security division have received training to operate the special left-hand-driven, bulletproof vehicles that will be used to transport international dignitaries who will be attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Delhi next week.
To transport 41 distinguished foreign guests, the Union government has hired or purchased a fleet of both bullet-resistant and non-bullet-resistant Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Hyundai Genesis vehicles.
They added that these professionally trained drivers will transport the premiers and leaders to their lodging arrangements at five-star hotels as well as the major gathering location at ‘Bharat Mandapam’ in the nation’s capital.
With more than 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is the largest paramilitary organisation in the nation and is used for a variety of internal security tasks. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and the Gandhi family—Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra—are among the 149 high-risk individuals guarded by its special VIP security wing, which has a staff of over 6,000 people.
In order to provide close protection for the VIPs on the two days of the G20 Summit on September 9-10 and the day prior, September 8, when the heads of other countries will begin arriving in the national capital, the force has deployed a total of 900 men, including these 450 drivers.
Personnel from the Special Protection Group (SPG), which guards the prime minister, and the National Security Guard (NSG), a counterterrorism unit, are included in the CRPF’s special G20 pool.
The wives of the dignitaries will be protected, according to official sources, by specially trained men and women commandos of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), another paramilitary outfit.
The CRPF VIP security wing has conducted a particular training to prepare drivers for these automobiles as India has a right-hand drive protocol because more than 60 vehicles have been specially pooled in to convey the VVIPs.
In addition to teaching these soldiers how to drive the large, bullet-resistant luxury cars, the force imported certain left-hand-drive vehicles from Germany.
According to the sources, the ‘contingency’ carcade for the G20 Leaders’ Summit would be provided by the Border Security Force (BSF).
Along with the NSG’s ‘black cat’ commandos, other centrally deployed armed police units, including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), have been deployed to secure the summit’s routes and locations in collaboration with Delhi Police, they claimed.
For the large-scale international event, these forces have also deployed anti-sabotage squads with sniffer dog support, with the CRPF alone sending 48 such teams.
Post Your Comments