Women will be deployed for the first time in India as sky marshals to take on terrorists attempting to hijack flights.
A senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said the first batch of 14 women commandos - drawn from the elite National Security Guards would be sent to Israel and the US for specialised training in unarmed combat and anti-hijacking techniques, including the use of firearms.
The female commandos have thus far been assigned to protect women politicians such as Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress Party, and Jayaram Jayalalitha, chief minister of Tamil Nadu state.
The federal government believes that many sectors within the country and abroad covered by state-owned Indian Airlines and Air India are vulnerable to hijacking.
The civil aviation official said flights in Punjab and Indian-administered Kashmir, and flights to Lahore, Dhaka and Kabul, had four to five air marshals on board.
Sky marshals were first introduced after the 1999 hijacking of an India Airlines plane flying from Kathmandu to New Delhi. The plane was taken to Kandahar in Taleban-ruled Afghanistan. The passengers were released after India freed jailed militants fighting for an independent Kashmir.
