Force One ( Marathi: बळ एक,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ''Baḷa ēka'') is a specialised

counter terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

unit of the

Mumbai Police The Mumbai Police ( Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibilit ...

to guard the

Mumbai metropolitan area Mumbai Metropolitan Region (abbreviated to MMR and previously also as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai (Bombay) and its satellite towns in the northern Konkan division, of the Maharashtra state in ...

, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, formed by the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisl ...

on the lines of National Security Guards (NSG). It was formed under

Maharashtra Police Maharashtra Police (IAST: ''Mahārāṣṭra Polīs Sēvā'', formerly ''Bombay State Police'') is the law enforcement agency responsible for the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is headed by Director General of Police, Rajnish Seth (IPS), and h ...

, as a response to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and was commissioned two days before its first anniversary at the time of establishment Shri Jayant Patil was State Home Minister of Maharashtra. On the occasion, Maharashtra Chief Minister

Ashok Chavan Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan (born 28 October 1958) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. He is one of the most influential leaders of Indian National Congress in Maharashtra. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state from 8 D ...

also laid the foundation stone of the Force One's headquarters in Mumbai. One of the primary tasks of the unit will be to protect the

Maharashtra Legislature The Maharashtra Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Legislature is composed of: *the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the lower house, *the Maharashtra Legislative Council, the upper house, and *the ...

as well as several politicians within the state.

Overview

Recruitment and training

The recruitment for Force One is undertaken among young volunteers from

who are already well trained. Only around 4-5 per cent of total applicants succeed. The maximum entry age for constabulary personnel is 28 years and is 35 years for officers. The commandos of Force One are trained at Maharashtra Intelligence Academy, the College of Military Engineering,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, and

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...

(DRDO), in the use of sophisticated arms and explosives, and are known for their rapid shooting skills. While the NSG has a regional hub in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, Force One is expected to be part of the initial response to a terror strike in

Creation

In the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the

decided to form a new, specialised force to tackle terror. It was commissioned on 24 November 2009 on SRPF Ground of suburban

Goregaon Goregaon ( �oːɾeɡaːʋ is a suburb of Mumbai city, in the Mumbai Suburban district of India. It has a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Line. An extension of the Harbour Line was completed in 2018 because of ...

, Mumbai. The initial training of the unit was made under the help and supervision of

Israeli Special Forces Special forces units in the Israel Defense Forces encompass a broad definition of specialist units. Such units are usually a regiment or a battalion in strength. Sayeret ( he, סיירת, pl.: ''sayarot''), or ''reconnaissance'' units in the I ...

(

Yamam The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in Hebrew and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, ...

). After two months of basic training by Israeli specialists, Force One was founded. Force One headquarters is to be spread over inside the lush green Aarey Milk Colony at

in northwest

, and the first batch has 216 elite commandos. Out of 3,000 applications from the state police force who volunteered to be part of the force - many of whom were part of 26/11 response team - 261 personnel were selected and trained in Pune, apart from the College of Military Engineering and the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory of the

(DRDO).

Influence on other units

The Force One have trained the police force of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Apart from this, Force One trains all the Quick Response Teams of

and are involved in training the

Railway Protection Force Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection ...

and the

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police or JKP is the law enforcement agency of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory). JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir in India. Hist ...

Equipment

Weapon: *

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

* Glock 19 *

Smith & Wesson M&P The Smith & Wesson M&P (Military and Police) is a polymer- framed, short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol introduced in the summer of 2005 by the American company Smith & Wesson. It uses a Browning-type locking system. Whil ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

Brügger & Thomet MP9 The Brügger & Thomet MP9 (Maschinenpistole 9mm, German for "machine pistol") is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge that is designed and manufactured by Brügger & Thomet. The MP9 is a selective-fire submachine gun. I ...

* AKM * M107 rifle * Barrett Model 98B *

M4 Carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensive ...

CornerShot CornerShot is a weapon accessory invented by Lt. Col. Amos Golan of the Israeli Defense Forces in cooperation with American investors. It was designed in the early 2000s for use by SWAT teams and special forces in hostile situations usually invol ...

* SIG SG 550 Vehicles: *

Mahindra Marksman The Mahindra Marksman is India’s first armoured capsule-based light bulletproof vehicle to provide protection to the personnel of defence, paramilitary and police forces against small arms fire and grenade attacks. It has capability to be used in ...

*Tata LATC *

Mahindra Rakshak The Mahindra Rakshak (''Protector'') is an armored military light utility vehicle made by Mahindra Defense Systems, based on the chassis of the Mahindra Commander jeep. Primarily used by the Indian army, it is also used by other countries and pol ...

References