Kolkata police to have specialised anti-terrorist unit

KOLKATA, 23 JUNE: The West Bengal government will raise a new specialised force to deal with terrorism in Kolkata, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday. The crack unit, to be trained by instructors from the army and the Border Security Force (BSF), will be attached to the Kolkata police. "We already have three battalions of a specialised unit - Straco - to deal with terrorist strikes in areas under the state police. Today it was decided to recruit one battalion for the Kolkata police to fight terrorists," Bhattacharjee said after a meeting of the state cabinet. The specialised force, comprising around one thousand men, will be ready within a year, city police sources said. In a colonial legacy, the West Bengal police has jurisdiction over 18 districts, while the metropolitan area of Kolkata has a separate city police force constituted and administered under Calcutta Police Act,1866 & Calcutta (Suburban Police) Act, 1866. This arrangement is unique in the entire country.