The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will raise a special unit of its elite anti-Maoist Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) to be deployed for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir for counter-terror operations.

CRPF director-general Gyanendra Pratap Singh announced this on Thursday during the 86th Raising Day event of the force held in Madhya Pradesh. He said the force was in the process of raising a new CoBRA unit for Jammu and Kashmir, as directed by Union home minister Amit Shah who was the chief guest at the event.

The country's largest paramilitary force, the CRPF, with a strength of over 3 lakh personnel, is the lead internal security combat unit and is also posted in Jammu and Kashmir for counter-terror operations.

Sources said the new CoBRA unit would be tasked to undertake operations in the forests, especially in the Jammu region, which has witnessed a surge in terrorist incidents over the past year.

At present, regular CRPF units and their special commando wing called the Kashmir Valley Quick Action Team (QAT) undertake counter-terrorist operations there. In 2023, some CoBRA companies were sent to the Valley for training purposes, but they were not deployed for any action following objections raised by some senior officers, sources said.

"They were supposed to be deployed but some senior CRPF officers had raised objections over the deployment in Kashmir, saying the unit was specifically trained to counter Maoists in jungle warfare," said a CRPF official.

At present, CoBRA teams have been deployed in Maoist-affected regions. It has battalion headquarters in every Maoist-hit state, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

In 2008, the Centre had raised a 10,000-strong special force, CoBRA, under the control of the CRPF to counter Maoists and enable them in Naxalite intelligence techniques and strategy. CoBRA is headquartered in the National Capital Region, and its commandos get 15 per cent more salary than is normally drawn by a CRPF soldier, sources said.

The commandos inducted in this unit are trained to undertake specific intelligence-based jungle warfare and guerrilla tactics operations. The commando unit is provided with modern assault weapons, communication and surveillance gadgets, and its profile is kept agile with the induction of young troops and commanders.

CRPF Day is celebrated on March 19, as it was on this day in 1950 that the flag was presented to the force by then home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.