Hyderabad: Director general of police (DGP) CV Anand conducted a comprehensive review of Greyhounds, Octopus commando units on Thursday. While asking the leadership of the commando units to maintain operational readiness of the units, the top cop informed them about repatriation of a significant chunk of Greyhounds anti-naxal force to other police wings in view of rapid decline in Maoist activity.Anand initially visited Greyhounds headquarters in Premavathipet and conducted a comprehensive review of the elite anti-naxal commando force’s operational and administrative functioning.After the review, the DGP appreciated the performance and sacrifices of Greyhounds over the years in curbing the naxal activities. Currently, Greyhounds has about 1,600 personnel, and the DGP informed officers that the proposal to repatriate 708 posts of Greyhounds to their parent units of Armed Reserve and Special Police Battalions is currently pending with the Govt and once repatriated, they would be posted to other police wings as per necessity.DGP also visited the Octopus commando training centre at Ibrahimpatnam and reviewed the functioning and operational preparedness of the elite counterterror force. Though Octopus has a sanctioned strength of about 600 personnel, currently they are operating with about 400 personnel.During the visit, he also assessed the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams and the training wing.Greyhounds and Octopus director general Anil Kumar briefed the DGP on the periodic mock exercises being conducted by the Octopus units at sensitive installations and locations, and of the specialised training in handling advanced weapons during operations.The DGP advised the force to plan and strengthen operational strategies for existing airports as well as upcoming airport facilities. Anand assured that both elite commando forces would continue to receive maximum support from the Govt and police department for further strengthening their capabilities.
