Karnataka: Indian Air Force Garud Commandos provided security shield to Aero India 2021 at Bengaluru

During the three-day Aero India air show held this week, the elite Garud Special Forces operatives provided counter-terrorism cover to the prestigious event.

The Garuds could be seen deployed on the ground at the venue and were manning all the high rise buildings in sniper role in the show attended by President Ramnath Kovind, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three services chiefs along with defence ministers and other global Air Force heads and delegations.

“The Garuds created a sniper grid interposed with mobile assault elements both on the ground and in the air during the show,” Aero India officials said.

India’s youngest Special Force ‘Garud’ has acted as a force multiplier in the Air Force and is presently deployed on China border in substantial numbers where they were deployed soon after the Chinese transgressions in March-April time frame last year.

The Garuds have proved their mettle in counter-terrorism operations with the Indian Army as they eliminated around 10 terrorists, including the nephew of international terrorist Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi in 2017, in a prolonged operation spread over months.

The force was awarded one Ashok Chakra and several other gallantry medals for those operations.