7 Central Armed Police Forces

These forces come under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry. The operational functions of the Assam Rifles fall under the Union Ministry of Defence (Indian Army). The Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and the Sashastra Seema Bal are the border guarding forces.

Assam Rifles

It was established in 1835 as the ‘Cachar Levy’ to protect the British tea plantations in Assam against tribal raids. In 1917, it was renamed as the Assam Rifles. They are also known as the ‘Friends of the North East.’ It is the oldest para-military force in India.

They are responsible for border security, counter-insurgency operations, and maintaining law and order in the Northeast region.

Assam Rifles is responsible for guarding the Assam-Myanmar border.

National Security Guard (NSG)

The National Security Guard (NSG) is a ‘Federal Contingency Force’ to deal with anti-terrorist activities in exceptional circumstances to neutralize terror attacks. They are also known as ‘Black Cats.’

It was established in 1984 and formally established in 1986 after enacting the National Security Guards Act 1986. It was modeled on the pattern of SAS (U.K.) and GSG-9 of Germany.

It comprises the Special Action Group drawn from the Army and the Special Rangers Group drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces and the State Police Forces.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

Originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, it was renamed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), on 28th December 1949, by the act of Parliament. It is a Union Force to deal with counter-insurgency and counter-insurgency operations in India.

Two battalions of CRPF are: –

Rapid Action Force (RAF) is deployed for crowd control and riot control.

Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) carries out special operations in jungle warfare. They are deployed in the Left-wing Affected Area.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)

It was established in 1968 under the Central Industrial Security Force Act 1968 to provide security cover to important industrial and economic establishments such as the Department of Atomic Energy, the Department of Space, the Airports, the Delhi Meto, the ports, and PSUs.

It also provides security to some private sector units and essential Government buildings in New Delhi. It also has a dedicated fire wing. It also provides protection to the protected persons covered under Z Plus, Z, Y and X.

Border Security Force (BSF)

The Border Security Force (BSF) came into existence on 1st December 1965 to secure the borders of India. (L) K F Rustamji, the first Director-General of BSF, is regarded as the ‘Father of the Border Security Force.’ It guards the international border of India with Pakistan and Bangladesh. In addition, BSF has been deployed for counter-insurgency operations in the North-East Region, anti-infiltration operations in Kashmir Valley, and anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has both peace-time and war-time functions. In peace-time, the BSF is responsible for promoting a sense of security among the communities residing in the border areas, preventing smuggling and other illegal activities in the border areas, and preventing unauthorized crime and entry or exit of persons from or into the territory of India. During wartime, the BSF is assigned to hold ground in a specific war sector, maintain law and order in enemy territory occupied by the Indian Army, guide the army in border areas, and assist refugees during the war.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

It was established in 1962 to patrol the border of India with the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Act of 1992 was enacted by the Parliament of India in 1996.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police guards the 3488 km long India-China borders, especially in the high-altitude terrain, from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh. They are also deployed in the anti-Naxalist operations in Chhattisgarh.

Sashastra Seema Bal

It was raised in 1963 as the Special Service Bureau (SSB) after the Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962 to achieve total security preparedness in the remote border areas along the Sino-Indian border.

Based on the K. Subramanyam Committee’s report, SSB was declared as the border guarding force. It was renamed as the ‘Sashastra Seema Bal’ under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. It was given the mandate to guard the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, in 2001 and 2004, respectively.