Mangaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 13: In a significant move to curb rising communal tensions, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara officially launched the Special Action Force (SAF) in Mangaluru on Friday. The force, the first of its kind in India dedicated solely to tackling communal issues, will operate across three communally sensitive districts—Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Shivamogga.
The SAF was formed in response to increasing incidents of communal clashes and hate crimes, including high-profile cases such as the murder of Suhas Shetty and the hacking of a pickup driver in Kolthamajal. With a clear mandate to prevent, monitor, and respond swiftly to such threats, the SAF aims to restore peace and social harmony in the volatile coastal belt.
Comprising 248 specially trained personnel, the unit includes a senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP), Deputy Superintendents, Inspectors, and Constables. The force has been primarily constituted from the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF), highlighting the government’s resolve to apply the same intensity in combating communal disturbances as it does with insurgency threats.
The SAF will operate through three strategically deployed companies stationed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Shivamogga, with its operational headquarters based in Mangaluru.
“This is the first time in India that a special action force has been constituted with the sole purpose of addressing communal disharmony,” said Home Minister G Parameshwara. He emphasized that the force is both a strike and intelligence unit, empowered to identify, arrest, and prosecute individuals instigating communal violence.
“They have been given the power to collect intelligence, act against those inciting hate, and bring them to justice,” he added, underlining the SAF’s dual nature—“harsh for those spreading disharmony, peaceful for law-abiding citizens.”
This initiative follows Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao’s earlier announcement about forming an anti-communal task force, particularly after the recent spate of violence and politically sensitive murders in the region.
The Karnataka government hopes the SAF will serve as a model for other states, showing how targeted enforcement and intelligence can safeguard communal harmony in high-risk zones.