51 Special Action Group

51 Special Action Group 51 SAG
Common name	Top Men Team
Motto	Sahas Ki Vijay Bravery Wins
Agency overview
Formed	1986, 15 December
Employees	The officers come from various units of Army.
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency	India
Governing body	Ministry of Home Affairs (India)
Constituting instrument	National Security Guard Act, 1985
General nature	Federal law enforcement Civilian agency
Specialist jurisdiction	Counter terrorism, special weapons and tactics, protection of VIPs.
Operational structure
Headquarters	New Delhi, India
Agency executive	Colonel Maneesh Parthasarati, Group Commander
Parent agency	National Security Guard

The 51 Special Action Group is a special response unit of the National Security Guards (NSG) of India. It was raised by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of 1985.

The Special Action Group (SAG) comprises 54% of the National Security Guards. It is its offensive arm, with personnel drawn from the Indian Army. The 51 SAG is tasked with counter-terrorism operations, while the 52 SAG is trained and equipped for counter-hijack operations.

Mission

51 Special Action Group's mission is part of the NSG's overall mission to neutralise specific terrorist threats in vital installations or any given area, handle hijack situations involving piracy in the air and on the land, engage and neutralise terrorists in specific situations, and to rescue hostages in kidnap situations.

Composition

The unit is the smallest combat unit in the SAG counter-terrorist operations, and is called a hit. It has five members: two pairs, or partners and a technical support member. Four hits make a team which is under the command of a captain/team commander. The number of hits used for an intervention job depends on its complexity and the magnitude of the operation.

Recently, operational hubs have been raised in Metro cities: Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, aprart from its headquarters at Manesar, Haryana, near the capital New Delhi.

Equipment

• HK MP5 and its variants such as the MP5SD3, MP5SD6, MP5K,and MP5-N
• Beretta AR70/90
• Glock 19
• Sig Sauer P226
• Beretta 92
• SPAS 12
• PSG-1 sniper rifle
• MSG-90 sniper rifle

Operations carried out

Though it is not possible to narrate all the operations carried out by NSG but the summary of important surgical operations carried out by NSG (51 SAG) are given below:

• Op Cactus - Commandos were mobilized for the 1988 Maldives coup d'état operations in Male, Maldives.

• Op Mouse Trap - Commandos were deployed in Distt Taran Taaran (Punjab). More than 25 militants were killed and a large number of weapons & ammunition were recovered.

• Op Agni Baan - Punjab terrorists were holed up inside a house in Baroda. 2 terrorists were killed and their weapons recovered.

• Op Ghost Buster - 51 SAG was deployed with SIT for search and strike missions after the assassination of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.

• Op Sudarshan - 51 SAG was deployed at Ayodhya during Babri Masjid dispute.

• Op Winter Storm - 51 SAG along with supporting elements were moved on 27 Oct 93 to Srinagar to flush out militants from Hazratbal Shrine. Operations were called off after a prolonged siege of almost a month though the final preparations for assault had been made.

• Operations Vajrashakti in Akshardham Temple - 51 SAG was flown to rescue hostages held by terrorist in Akshardham Temple Gandhinagar. This was the first operation in which two commandos of 51 SAG attained martyrdom. All the militants were killed with no casualties to hostages & damage to the temple.

• Operation Trident, Black Tornado and Cyclone – Recently held operations to flush out the terrorists and rescue hostages post multiple attacks across Mumbai. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Hav Gajender Singh made their supreme sacrifice while combating the terrorists.

References

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?150122-SAG-the-real-NSG—Lt Col Jangbir Singh Rangi; former 51 SAG