Women in black: Meet Priyanka Panwar, first SPOT commando of UP

Uttar Pradesh Minister and former IPS officer, Asim Arun, on Friday, shared an inspiring journey of a policewoman joining the elite Special Police Operations Team (SPOT) of the UP Police's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).

In a detailed post on X, Asim Arun recalled how he had to change the entry provisions when Priyanka Panwar met him and showed interest in joining the SPOT unit because earlier only male personnel of the UP Police were allowed to appear in the entry process.

A wrestler, Priyanka joined the Uttar Pradesh Police in 2011 and made it to the SPOT unit in 2017.

"Meet Priyanka Panwar, a commando of the Special Police Operations Team (SPOT) of Uttar Pradesh Police ATS. The story of her becoming a commando is also interesting...," Arun wrote in his post on X.

"When Yogi ji ordered me to form SPOT as ATS chief, names of those interested were sought from all police and PAC... Many male policemen used to come and take the test. It was a difficult test, with only a few able to pass. One day, the inspector of SPOT told me that a girl had also come to appear for the exam. What to do?" his post, roughly translated from Hindi, read.

"I asked him to call this girl. Then, Priyanka appeared in front of me for the first time... She said, 'Sir, I will also become a commando, I am a wrestler.' The girl had enthusiasm and sports fitness. I felt that I had made a big mistake (as) we had not included the provision of women police officers in the applications that we had asked for," Arun said.

"We corrected the mistake and allowed Priyanka to take the test....Priyanka got selected and attended the SPOT training," Asim Arun said.

"Priyanka performed very well, and taking inspiration from her, other girls (also) became part of (the) SPOT team and participated in dangerous operations. And whether it is a matter of risk-taking or efficiency, our daughters are no less than anyone else," Asim Arun said in the concluding part of the post on X.

ABOUT SPOT

The Special Police Operations Team (SPOT) was raised by the UP ATS in 2017 for intelligence gathering and to carry out anti-terror and anti-naxal operations.

Members of the SPOT have been imparted special training and are equipped with weapons and ultra-modern technologies. Currently, it has as many as five teams, which are located at different strategic locations in various districts of Uttar Pradesh.