Article Title: Rapid Action Force
07-10-2022
Defence & Internal Security Prelims Plus
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The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force of India to deal with riot and crowd control situations.
RAF was raised on 11 December 1991 with headquarters in New Delhi.
It became fully operational on 7 October 1992, to deal with riots, riot like situations, crowd control, rescue and relief operations, and related unrest.
The first five battalions were raised by October 1992 and an additional 5 battalions were added in April 1994.
Currently, the RPF battalions have been strategically located in 15 cities across the country.
On 9 November 2013, the RAF Academy of Public Order was established in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
RAF is commanded by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP), functioning at New Delhi.
Each battalion is headed by a Commanding Officer (CO), an officer of the rank of Commandant.
Motto is "Serving Humanity with Sensitive Policing".
The RPF is a zero response force as it gets into a crisis situation within a minimal time and is always kept in readiness for rapid deployment, thus enthusing an immediate sense of security and confidence among the general public.
The Force is equipped with non-lethal weapons for dispersing the crowd with minimum harm.
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