Veeranganas is a all-women crack commando unit of the Assam police meant to provide safety to women
For the last four years, 26-year-old Bobby Baishya and her friends have been spending their mornings on martial art sessions. They are Veeranganas -- a 100-member all-women crack commando unit of the Assam police meant to provide safety to women in crowded urban areas.
"When a girl is facing problems, she can open up better to a girl. We are severe on crimes against women. We catch the culprit. There is now a feeling that if Veeranganas are around, women are safe," Bobby told NDTV.
Top police officers say since 2012, the figures of crime against women in Guwahati has dropped by 40 per cent. In 2014, 97 rape cases were registered. That figure was to 65 in 2016.
A woman who had called upon the Veeranganas for help after being molested, said, "To my surprise, they reached within five minutes. They chased the miscreants, and pulled them out of a bar. This was the fastest action by Assam police I ever saw".
The team was formed in 2012, after an event that had generated as much shock and outrage as the mass molestations in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve.
On July 9 that year, a 21-year-old girl was molested outside a pub on Guwahati's busy GS Road. The Assam Police took it as a wake-up call and handpicking the best women constables from all combat units, sent them for rigorous commando training. The women are trained in all forms of martial arts.
Today, their quick reaction teams are spread across Guwahati city. They even protect even VIPs - including the state's brand ambassador Priyanka Chopra when she is in Assam.
"We have decided that in Assam Police will recruit at least 30 percent women... they would be used in different roles... from investigations, to crack commando duties," said Mukesh Sahay, DGP, Assam.