The Special Tactical Unit (STU) is an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

counter terrorist 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 e ...

unit of the

Odisha Police The Odisha Police abbreviated as either OP or OPS, is the law enforcement agency for the state of Odisha in India. It is headquartered in Cuttack, the former capital of Odisha. The Odisha Police is headed by a Director General of Police, curren ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. They specialise in

urban warfare Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and city, cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban war ...

scenarios including

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

situations.

History

After the 26 November 2008

Mumbai attacks Terrorism in India, according to the Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includes Islamic terrorism, separatist ...

, the state of Maharashtra started an urban counter terrorism force called Force One. Later,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

also started a similar force called Organisation for Counter Terrorists Operations (OCTOPUS). A similar unit, called Special Tactical Unit, was unveiled by Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, the Chief Secretary of Odisha, on 8 July 2013. After the 7 July 2013

Bodh Gaya bombings On 7 July 2013 a series of ten bombs exploded in and around the Mahabodhi Temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bodh Gaya, India. Five people, including two Buddhist monks, were injured by the blasts. Three other devices were defused by ...

, the STU was deployed for security for the first time during the 2013 Puri Ratha-Yatra on 10 July 2013.

Organisation and role

The STU is derived from the

Special Operation Group The Special Operation Group (SOG) is an Indian elite paramilitary unit operating under the Odisha Police (OP). The force specializes in neutralizing terrorists, insurgents and extremists. They are trained to execute rapid action under any circu ...

(SOG) of the

, which is an anti- Naxalite division specialising in jungle and

guerilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run t ...

. STU personnel have been trained by the

National Security Guard The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star, for combating terrorist activities and ...

(NSG) at

Manesar Manesar is a town and municipal corporation, know new Gurugram City in the Gurugram district of the state of Haryana, India and a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. It is an industrial hub. Its proximity to the burgeoning ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

, and specialise in urban scenarios including hostage situations. In the future, the STU will be independent of the SOG and also act as a

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

unit. They will be also used to protect military installations like the Chandipur missile test range and monuments like the

Jagannath Temple, Puri The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu - one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. Puri is in the state of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India. The present temple was rebuilt f ...

. The unit as of July 2013 has 30 personnel and it hopes to induct 30 more personnel in the second phase. The plan is to gradually raise the numbers to 100.

References

{{Reflist Specialist law enforcement agencies of India Odisha Police Counterterrorism in India 2013 establishments in Odisha Government agencies established in 2013

History

Organisation and role

See also

References