Jorhat, Feb. 9: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) units guarding central government oil public sector units (PSUs) operating in the Northeast are being armed with new sophisticated weapons, to meet the changing security challenges.

Tushar D. Sakhare, commandant of the CISF unit based in Assam and Assam Arakan Basin headquarters of ONGC in Cinnamara on the outskirts here, in an interaction with reporters today, said German-made MP5 pistols were being provided in recent months to its personnel deployed at certain key installations.

Sakhare said as part of the modernisation scheme of the government to upgrade the security forces in view of the changing security scenario, MP5 pistols have been given to personnel deployed at oil installations having huge assets and at those that seemed vulnerable according to threat assessment done by the force.

The CISF commandant said MP5 is one of the most sophisticated weapons used for close combat worldwide, as it is very effective and fatal for short and medium-range targets.

He said the handy automatic pistol is very successful in a 100metre range.

Sakhare said commandos of many state police forces and paramilitary forces have been provided with the weapon recently.

He said most of the CISF personnel deployed at installations are armed with AK-series and INSAS rifles, which are also sophisticated and capable of instantly minimising any security threat to the sites. He said MP5s have been provided to quick reaction parties of the CISF, who are deployed at installations in remote areas and those along the inter-state borders, where the threat level to the sites is believed to be high.

Threat assessment is done by taking into account several factors and Intelligence inputs gathered. Threat from extremist organisations was one of the factors, Sakhare said.

He said earlier only the CISF was responsible for providing security to central government oil PSU installations in the Northeast, but in the last few years two new battalions raised by Assam police exclusively for deployment at various ONGC sites, along with homeguards, have also been deployed by the oil company.

He said they (the new Assam police battalions and homeguards) operated under the command of the ONGC security wing.