BharatNotes What is Greyhounds (Anti-Naxal)?
The Greyhounds are an elite, specially trained police commando force of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Police, dedicated to counter-insurgency operations against the Naxalite-Maoist (Left Wing Extremism, or LWE) insurgency. Raised in 1989 in undivided Andhra Pradesh, the unit is widely cited by security professionals as among India's most effective jungle-warfare and anti-Maoist forces.
Origins and Leadership
The Greyhounds were sanctioned in 1989 by the Telugu Desam Party government after Maoist violence in the Prakasam district exposed the limits of conventional policing. The training programme was designed by IPS officer K. S. Vyas (1974 batch, Andhra Pradesh cadre), regarded as the architect of the force. Vyas was assassinated by the CPI (ML) People's War Group while jogging at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, on 27 January 1993, underscoring how seriously the Maoists viewed the unit's threat.
Key Features
| Feature | Detail (as verified) |
|---|---|
| Parent forces | Andhra Pradesh Police and Telangana State Police |
| Headquarters | Visakhapatnam (AP) and Hyderabad (Telangana) |
| Year raised | 1989 |
| Specialisation | Jungle warfare, guerrilla-style counter-insurgency |
| Age norm | Commandos kept under 35 years for agility and stamina |
| Field endurance | Trek 20-30 km of hilly jungle terrain per operation; sustain 5-6 days in jungle |
| Operating reach | AP and Telangana (legal jurisdiction); Odisha and Chhattisgarh (operational) |
The force emphasises small-team, intelligence-led, mobile operations that mirror Maoist guerrilla tactics rather than broad-area patrolling.
Significance and Impact
The Greyhounds are credited with the operational dismantling of the Maoist movement in its erstwhile heartland of Andhra Pradesh. Of the Maoists killed by police in the state over recent decades, around 80% of the kills have been attributed to Greyhounds commandos, who also bore roughly 20% of police casualties. Their success made them the model for later specialised anti-Naxal units, and central planning has used Greyhounds as a benchmark for forces operating in Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Current Status (2024-2026)
Greyhounds remain a core component of large joint anti-Maoist operations. In Operation Kagar-2 (2025) in the Karregutta hills, roughly 5,000 personnel drawn from the CRPF, CoBRA, Greyhounds and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) operated against a CPI-Maoist stronghold. Security forces killed 296 Naxalites in 2024 and around 390 in 2025 (per security/press reporting). Against the Union Home Ministry's stated target of a Naxal-free India by March 2026, the Home Minister declared the end of organised Naxalism on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 30 March 2026, though analysts note pockets of LWE activity persist in districts such as Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) and West Singhbhum (Jharkhand).
UPSC Angle
For GS3 Internal Security, the Greyhounds illustrate why a state-raised, locally recruited, jungle-trained special force can outperform generic deployments — a recurring discussion in the LWE syllabus. Compare and contrast with central units: CoBRA (a specialised CRPF battalion raised in 2009) and state units like Maharashtra's C-60. Foundational concept — underpins questions on Left Wing Extremism, internal security challenges in tribal areas, and Centre-State security coordination.
