The Uttar Pradesh government, in a late Sunday night announcement, set up eight battalions of Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force (UPSSF), which will not be bound by warrants for an arrest or to conduct searches as long as they are ‘sure of the crime’.

In a series of tweets, quoting Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Awanish Awasthi, the state government said, “This idea roots from the proposal that emerged as per the directions of Allahabad High Court after incidents of violence were reported in the court premises in December last year. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement in June about forming the UPSSF just got the ball rolling.”

“There is demand for special security force for district courts, metro rail, airports, industrial institutions, banks and other financial institutions, and for this the UPSSF should be constituted,” the Chief Minister had said then after the Bill was passed by the cabinet.

The special force will be responsible for the security of administrative buildings, courts, airports, metros, banks and industrial establishments among other state government offices. However, private companies can also hire these services.

“Any member of the force may, without any order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person who voluntarily cause hurt to, or attempts voluntarily to cause hurt to, or wrongfully restrains or attempts wrongfully to restrain or assaults, or uses, or threatens or attempts to use criminal force to any employee, as per section 11 of the CISF Act 1968. Separate rules for this section would be framed,” read the tweet.

Awasthi, who assured that CM Yogi Adityanath’s ‘dream project’ will pan out well, said that the cost for formation of the force, Rs 1747.06 crore, would come from the PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary), a special unit of the UP Police. However, this amount only constitutes the formation of five battalions initially.

“State DGP has given a nod to UPSSF. This force will be deployed at places like metro rail, airports, industrial institutions, courts, religious places, banks and other financial institutions. The headquarters of the UPSSF will be in Lucknow and an ADG-level officer will head the force. Initially, five battalions of UPSSF will be formed,” the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avaneesh Awasthi added to his statement.

Awasthi said that this force may require an deployment of as many as 9,919 personnel within three months in the first phase, following which 1,913 posts will be created later.

The UPSSF, which is being compared to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), has received a considerable share of criticism. However, the Uttar Pradesh government has countered anything formally yet.