Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26

The Punjab Government has approved the Centre’s plan to set up a base of the National Security Guards in Amritsar. The base to be developed on 120 acres would help in swift counter-terror operations in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had pushed for setting up of such a base in Pathankot in 2017 during a meeting with then Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The development hold significance in view of attempts to revive militancy in Punjab and fresh threats from across the border.

Home Secretary Satish Chandra told The Tribune that the government had started the process to identify land for setting up a base for the NSG. “We will acquire land for the NSG base. The setting up of such a base has become quite imperative in the state,” he said.

Already, the state Special Operations Group (SOG) is fully functional. The need for SOG arose after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016. The NSG teams from New Delhi were called in to eliminate the terrorists hiding in the base.

Sources in the Police Department said the NSG base in Amritsar would be ideally located so that commando teams can be swiftly moved in the state besides Jammu and Kashmir.