Sky marshals to be given ‘dumdum’ bullets
Sky marshals, deployed on civilian aircraft to counter hijack or hostage situations, have been armed with modern “dum dum” bullets that burst inside the body of an attacker instead of passing through and hitting any passenger or puncturing the plane’s body.
The bullets, whose peculiar name originated from the first such ammunition developed by the British near the “Dum Dum” military base in Kolkata in pre-independent India, are authorised to be fired only by special forces commandos the world over to avoid collateral damage in such an operation. This type of ammunition is prohibited for any other use under an international convention. The country’s counter-terror and count-er-hijack commando force, the NSG, has decided to include this ammunition in its armoury following 2008 Mumbai terror attacks where it had to undertake close-quarter combat in populated areas like 5-star hotels.
Sources said these bulletsare made to disintegrate inside the body and result in either killing or immobilising him.
“The bullets have been imported from a friendly country,” the sources said without disclosing the name of the country citing security reasons.
The National Security Guard (NSG) deploys a specific number of sky marshals on-board aircraft flying on select routes.
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