Special Task Force | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | STF |
Agency overview | |
Formed | May 4, 1998 |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | India |
In India, a Special Task Force (STF) is a type of police task force created to deal with high sensitive issues. Every state has a power to constitute an STF.[1] They are primarily formed due to lack of adequate police forces for a task, like neutralizing a major criminal or criminal network or as a counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism measure.[2][3][4]
The states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka first raised Special Task forces in the 1980s to counter ivory poacher, Veerapan, whom the forces eventually killed in 2004 with Operation Cocoon. In late 1980s, such forces were formed in Punjab to counter insurgency.[2] An STF was also formed in 1998 to kill Shri Prakash Shukla.