CRPF's all-woman commandos to guard Amit Shah, Gandhis, Manmohan

The first-ever batch of 32 female combatants is ready to provide Z-plus security to VVIPs like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and the Gandhis.

The women commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will be apart from the male teams providing security, starting January 15.

Since the all-woman combat team is small in size, the commandos will be initially deployed at the houses of the protectees where they will primarily frisk the women pass holders. The small size of the team means each VVIP will get five or six women commandos only. The women commandos will be considered for deployment when there is movement, especially during the upcoming elections, but after the team is expanded, a senior CRPF officer said. The women’s team could be deployed during next year’s polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states mainly following violence during the West Bengal elections.

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Besides Amit Shah and Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadera will get women commandos. About 12 other VVIPs will have this women commando contingent on a rotational basis. Earlier, the Gandhis and Manmohan Singh were protected by the Special Protection Group (SPG). That time too a small team of SPG women commandos provided house security to the Gandhis. In 2019, the Centre removed SPG cover given to Gandhis and Manmohan Singh and replaced it with CRPF’s Z plus cover.

The National Security Guard (NSG), country’s top counter-terror force, groomed a 25-member female contingent for VIP security. They were deployed for BSP chief Mayawati and AIADMK’s supreme leader late J Jayalalithaa. The two leaders were initially hesitant in accepting women’s security, but after media criticism, they accepted the women guards.