Hyderabad police launch all-women SWAT team to tackle protests

 The Hyderabad police on Tuesday launched the “Swift Women Action Team” (SWAT), a specialised all-women force created to manage large-scale agitations involving female protesters.

City Police Commissioner C V Anand said detaining women during rallies, dharnas, and other protests in Hyderabad has often posed operational challenges and to address this, a 35-member team of newly recruited women constables has been stationed at the city police headquarters.

The SWAT personnel have undergone specialised training in karate and have been instructed in safe and effective methods to detain and manage women during protest situations, he added.

“During agitations, there is deployment of women police personnel also to tackle women agitators. But, we have noticed on two-three occasions that those who are deployed are not adequately trained in the techniques of crowd management or how to tackle agitators. So, a special force has been created and they have been trained for a period of two months in self-defense techniques--Karate and also lifting (shifting the women agitators from the area of protest into police vehicles for shifting them to various police stations) techniques."

The SWAT will be deployed as per requirements and the team will be responsible for tackling women agitators, the city police chief said.

More personnel will be recruited soon, and the team will be expanded into two platoons, comprising a total of 42 members.