Force One (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: बळ एक,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ''Baḷa ēka'') is a specialised

counter terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

unit of the Mumbai Police to guard the

Mumbai metropolitan area Mumbai Metropolitan Region (abbreviated to MMR and previously also as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai (Bombay) and its satellite towns in the northern Konkan division, of the Maharashtra state in ...

, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, formed by the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

on the lines of

National Security Guards 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 p ...

(NSG). It was formed under

Maharashtra Police Maharashtra Police (IAST: ''Mahārāṣṭra Polīs Sēvā'', formerly ''Bombay State Police'') is the law enforcement agency responsible for the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is headed by Director General of Police, Rajnish Seth (IPS), and h ...

, as a response to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and was commissioned two days before its first anniversary at the time of establishment Shri Jayant Patil was State Home Minister of Maharashtra. On the occasion, Maharashtra Chief Minister

Ashok Chavan Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan (born 28 October 1958) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. He is one of the most influential leaders of Indian National Congress in Maharashtra. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state from 8 D ...

also laid the foundation stone of the Force One's headquarters in Mumbai. One of the primary tasks of the unit will be to protect the

Maharashtra Legislature The Maharashtra Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Legislature is composed of: *the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the lower house, *the Maharashtra Legislative Council, the upper house, and *th ...

as well as several politicians within the state.

Overview

Recruitment and training

The recruitment for Force One is undertaken among young volunteers from

who are already well trained. Only around 4-5

per cent In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also u ...

of total applicants succeed. The maximum entry age for constabulary personnel is 28 years and is 35 years for officers. The commandos of Force One are trained at Maharashtra Intelligence Academy, the

College of Military Engineering College of Military Engineering (CME) is a technical and tactical engineering training institution of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. Training of Combat Engineers, Military Engineering Service, Border Roads Engineering Ser ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, and

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) (IAST: ''Raksā Anūsandhān Evam Vikās Sangaṭhan'') is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, ...

(DRDO), in the use of sophisticated arms and explosives, and are known for their rapid shooting skills. While the NSG has a regional hub in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, Force One is expected to be part of the initial response to a terror strike in

Creation

In the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the

decided to form a new, specialised force to tackle terror. It was commissioned on 24 November 2009 on SRPF Ground of suburban Goregaon, Mumbai. The initial training of the unit was made under the help and supervision of

Israeli Special Forces Special forces units in the Israel Defense Forces encompass a broad definition of specialist units. Such units are usually a regiment or a battalion in strength. Sayeret ( he, סיירת, pl.: ''sayarot''), or ''reconnaissance'' units in the ...

(

Yamam The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in Hebrew and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, ...

). After two months of basic training by Israeli specialists, Force One was founded. Force One headquarters is to be spread over inside the lush green Aarey Milk Colony at Goregaon in northwest

, and the first batch has 216 elite commandos. Out of 3,000 applications from the state police force who volunteered to be part of the force - many of whom were part of 26/11 response team - 261 personnel were selected and trained in Pune, apart from the

and the

High Energy Materials Research Laboratory High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Pune, its main function is the research and development of technologies and products in the area of High En ...

of the

(DRDO).

Influence on other units

The Force One have trained the police force of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Apart from this, Force One trains all the Quick Response Teams of

and are involved in training the

Railway Protection Force Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957; enacted by the Indian Parliament for "the better protection ...

and the

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police or JKP is the law enforcement agency of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory). JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir in India. Hist ...

Equipment

Weapon: *

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

Glock 19 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

Smith & Wesson M&P The Smith & Wesson M&P (Military and Police) is a polymer- framed, short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol introduced in the summer of 2005 by the American company Smith & Wesson. It uses a Browning-type locking system. Whil ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

Brügger & Thomet MP9 The Brügger & Thomet MP9 (Maschinenpistole 9mm, German for "machine pistol") is a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge that is designed and manufactured by Brügger & Thomet. The MP9 is a selective-fire submachine gun. ...

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduc ...

* M107 rifle *

Barrett Model 98B The Barrett Model 98B (also known as the Barrett Model 98 Bravo) is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm or 8.58×70mm) and manufactured by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. The Model 98B was officially announced in ...

M4 Carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

* CornerShot * SIG SG 550 Vehicles: *

Mahindra Marksman The Mahindra Marksman is India’s first armoured capsule-based light bulletproof vehicle to provide protection to the personnel of defence, paramilitary and police forces against small arms fire and grenade attacks. It has capability to be used in ...

*Tata LATC *

Mahindra Rakshak The Mahindra Rakshak (''Protector'') is an armored military light utility vehicle made by Mahindra Defense Systems, based on the chassis of the Mahindra Commander jeep. Primarily used by the Indian army, it is also used by other countries and pol ...

References

{{Authority control Mumbai Police Non-military counterterrorist organizations Maharashtra Police Counterterrorism in India Specialist law enforcement agencies of India 2010 establishments in Maharashtra Government agencies established in 2010