Elite commando force NSG reports first COVID-19 death, as officer succumbs to infection

New Delhi: India’s elite Commando force National Security Guard (NSG) on Wednesday has reported first COVID-19 induced death, as a senior commander succumbed to the infection on Wednesday morning.

According to officials in the NSG Group Commander (coordination) BK Jha was admitted to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) Hospital in Greater Noida after he contracted COVID-19 and breathed his last early this morning.

Jha, 53-year-old, was not in the combat role, as he worked in one of the administrative units of the force, the officials said, adding that he was originally a 1993-batch officer of the Border Security Force (BSF) cadre, hailed from Bihar. He had joined the NSG on deputation in 2018.

Both the forces offered condolences on their respective Twitter handles. “DG and all ranks of NSG mourn his death and remember his distinguished service to the Nation. May Almighty rest his noble soul in eternal peace and give strength to his family to bear the loss,’ the NSG said in its Twitter message,” the anti-terror commando force said. The BSF said it stands by the family of the officer in these trying times.

According to the official data, the NSG, which also known as ‘Black Cat’ commando force, has had over 430 cases of COVID-19 infection till now, out of which only about 59 are active ones. It was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency special force and its primary task includes undertaking specific counter-terrorist, counter-hijack operations and rendering VVIP protection duties.

The Central Armed Police Force (CAPFs)such as the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB and two other forces under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), NSG and NDRF, had over 66,000 COVID-19 positive cases among them, out of which over 7,900 are active, according to the official data.

The all CAPFs, having a combined strength of over 10 lakh personnel, witnessed about 248 deaths due to the pandemic till now. (UNI)