First death from COVID-19 in commando force NSG as officer succumbs to pandemic

Country's federal counter-terrorist commando force National Security Guard (NSG) reported its first coronavirus linked death on Wednesday when a senior commander succumbed to the infection, officials said.

Group Commander (coordination) B K Jha was admitted to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) Hospital in Greater Noida after he contracted COVID-19 and breathed his last early morning, they said.

This is the first death from coronavirus in the NSG. The officer was working with one of the adminstrative units of the force and was not in the combat wing, they added.

He was 53.

Jha, originally a 1993-batch officer of the BSF cadre, hailed from Bihar.

The officer joined the NSG on deputation from the Border Security Force in 2018.

He had earlier served as the principal staff officer and commandant to the BSF director general.

Both the forces that function under the command of the Union Home Ministry condoled his death on their respective Twitter handles.

"DG and all ranks of NSG mourn his death and remember his distinguished service to the Nation. May Almighty rest his noble soul in eternal peace and give strength to his family to bear the loss," the NSG said in its Twitter message.

The BSF said it stands by the family of the officer in these trying times.

The NSG, as per official data updated till Monday, has had over 430 COVID-19 infection cases till now, out of which only about 59 are active.

The 'black cats' commando force was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency special force and its primary task includes undertaking specific counter-terrorist, counter-hijack operations and rendering VVIP protection duties.

The CAPFs like the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB and two other forces under the Union Home Ministry, NSG and NDRF, had over 66,000 COVID-19 cases among them, out of which over 7,900 are active, as per the data.

These forces, over 10 lakh in combined strength, have had about 248 deaths due to the pandemic till now.