[betraaaus]

Kerala State Police has raised an elite paramilitary commando unit of the Kerala Police ‘Thunderbolts Kerala.’ Thunderbolts are trained to use Austrian-made Steyr sniper rifles, German-made Heckler and Koch submachine guns, Steyr Special Purpose Pistols, Heckler and Koch MP-5 Kurz, Italian SPAS 12 semi-automatic combat shot guns, Austrian Glock 17 semi-automatic 9 mm pistol, ARGES hand grenades, military fighting knives, synthetic bullet proof body armour, fire retardant bullet proof tactical vests, ballistic shields, battering rams, guns that deliver electric shocks to immobilise targets, and high-speed armoured vehicles.

The government is expected to equip them with state-of-the-art remote control bomb disposal devices, including explosives and ordinance disposal robots, laser range finders, helmet-mountable night vision scopes, and outboard engine-powered rubber dinghies.

The SWAT team members will be absorbed into the civil police cadre once their tenure in the unit is over.