NSG to create its units in Ayodhya, Pathankot, and Kerala

Confirming the development, a senior officer said that the process was in the pipeline for some time.

The unit in Ayodhya will get operational in the next couple of months and the other two by the end of this year.

"The units in Ayodhya, Pathankot and Kerala will be operational by this year.

It will help local police and other CAPF units in capacity building and lessen the response time for NSG in case of any adverse situation," the officer said.

Notably, Ram Temple in Ayodhya which was inaugurated in January this year is among sensitive installations in India and is said to be on the radar of various terror outfits.

He added that several rounds of meetings were conducted over the locations before finalising the decision.

The units at these locations will be armed with specialized weapons and anti-drone measures.

The decision to set up NSG hubs in Pathankot and Kerala comes after keeping in view the strategic importance of the border district Pathankot and Kerala transforming into a haven for fundamentalist forces and logistics hub for pan-Islamic terrorist groups.

After the new three hubs get operational, there will be a total of eight NSG hubs across the country.

At present, there are five regional hubs of NSG in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Gandhinagar.

"All the three locations were identified based on threat perception and their geographical proximity to nearby sensitive locations," the officer added.

In January, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was inaugurated.

It is considered one of the sensitive zones and is always on the radar of various terror outfits.