Special Task Force (India)

In India, a Special Task Force (STF) is a type of special police force tasked to deal with violent issues such as wanted criminals and insurgencies. They are primarily formed due to lack of adequate police forces for a task, like neutralizing a criminal network or carrying out anti-terrorism measures. Every state has their own power to constitute an STF.

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 an insurgency. An STF was also formed on May 1998 in Uttar Pradesh by IPS AjayRaj Sharma on the recommendation of IAS RajivRatan Shah to kill the infamous dreaded criminal ShreePrakash Shukla, mission led by IPS Rajesh Pandey, under the name of 'Operation BAZOOKA'.