Women in black

Yogi Adityanath is assembling women commandos and expanding the state's anti-terrorist squad to deal with changing threats

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

IT WAS RAINING BULLETS. Chanchal Teotia rappelled down a multi-storey building, pulled out an MP5 submachine gun, and shot down hostiles. She then smashed a window and entered the building to rescue hostages and neutralise the remaining hostiles. The building was secured in no time. Chanchal removed her headgear. The mock drill was complete.

Her instructors know Chanchal as a quiet girl with limited vocabulary and unlimited courage. The 23-year-old hails from the outlying town of Bulandshahr, which sits on top of the crime charts in Uttar Pradesh. She is the youngest female commando of the state’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS) and the latest entrant to the elite all-women strike team being assembled by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The team is part of Adityanath’s new security blueprint, which he unveiled after returning to power in March. It includes women police battalions across the state and the creation of women commando units, among other initiatives. Prashant Kumar, additional director general of police (law and order), Uttar Pradesh, said: “If women are present in a terror group, or there is a hostage situation in a house or public spaces like malls or cinema halls, where hostages taken are mostly women, our women commandos will be most effective in counter-terror action and negotiation.”