Its baptism by fire for IRB Commandos

KUMILY: As the law and order in the border regions of Kerala is worsening day by day over the Mullaperiyar dam issue, the newly inducted India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel are on their first peace keeping mission in  Kumily and Cumbumettu areas.The seven patrols of youngsters in green camouflage uniform  have already won the applauds of the local people with their day-night vigil at the check posts.The 250 member Reserve Battalion had passed out from Police Academy last month after extensive training.“The training programme includes weapon handling and acrobatics. They were given 18 months training. They were trained in basic policing for the first nine months. During the remaining period, they were trained with paramilitary forces on weapon handling, jungle warfare and other modern techniques. The main aim of the IRB is to keep law and order, conduct rescue operations in disaster struck areas and provide security for election duties,” said Uma Meena Badra, Commandant, IRB.Apart from this, a separate commando group of IRB consisting of 160 members has undergone extensive jungle warfare training at Nilambur forest range.“The commando group has completed nine months of training in Kerala. They will undergo specialised training like the commandos of NSG and SPG. The Martial Combat of Israeli Army will also train them. They will be trained to handle ambush operations, bomb and explosives identification and anti- terrorism activities. The commando group will be equipped with modern arms and ammunition and high-tech gadgets to take up combat missions,” Uma Meena Badra said.She added that the training of the second batch of the IRB is on and it would be completed in a couple of months.In Kumily and Cumbumettu, the IRB members are currently guarding check posts along with 500 other armed police personnel.