Exclusive contingent to guard RAW, IB, ARC centres

NEW DELHI: The Centre has sanctioned an exclusive contingent of about 1,800 armed personnel to guard the facilities of top intelligence agencies in the country-- RAW, IB and the Aviation Research Centre.

The deployment has been made after security agencies carried out an analysis of the training centres, administrative offices and other facilities of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) in the country and it was felt necessary to secure them in view of possible threats to them, sources said.

The troops to guard these facilities have been drawn from the Sashastra Seema Bal ( SSB), a border guarding force which is tasked to man India's border with Nepal and Bhutan.

A small contingent of the force was already securing few offices of the RAW and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) in the national capital but the cover has now been extended to the centres of these snoop agencies across the country.

The security squad will not only control the access to these facilities but also provide a quick reaction team of commando-trained personnel who will respond to any emergency.

The personnel, posted at these centres, have also been trained in unarmed combat and specialised weapon firing, they said.