The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Ajit Kumar Mohanty as Director-General of Organization for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS) -- the newly-created exclusive wing to fight terror groups operating in the state.

His posting has come as a surprise since the proposal cleared by the state cabinet a few days ago was to post an officer of the rank of Additional DGP to head the new outfit to counter urban terrorism. This is the first appointment to OCTOPUS.

Mohanty was one of the officers who finalized the structure and responsibilities of OCTOPUS. It was Mohanty who had named the anti-terror wing as OCTOPUS.

The Anti-Terror Wing in the state police was mooted in the wake of the bomb blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat eatery in the city on August 25 in which 43 persons were killed and 54 others injured.

The twin blasts followed the earlier bomb blast at the historic Mecca Masjid in the Old City during Friday prayers on May 18 in which nine persons lost their lives and 58 others sustained injuries.

After these blasts, 25 activists and sympathizers of terror groups were arrested and remanded to jail on charges of conspiring against the state, circulating jihadi literature, recruiting youth and providing logistical support to terror groups.

Fifty seven-year-old Mohanty is a 1975 batch officer of Indian Police Service belonging to AP cadre. He hails from Orissa. Mohanty was earlier posted as DGP (Law and Order) in January this year after he was shifted from the post of Hyderabad City Police Commissioner after a brief stint of 15 months. His transfer from the top post in the City police was effected by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, apparently under pressure from a political party.

As the first head of OCTOPUS, Mohanty has a tough task on hand as he has to build the new outfit from scratch. OCTOPUS will initially have strength of 1,600 personnel. OCTOPUS will be patterned after Greyhounds (the anti-Maoist elite commando force) and Special Intelligence Bureau (which gathers intelligence on Maoist activities in the state).

Personnel will be inducted into OCTOPUS through direct recruitment and special deputation from other wings of the state police. They will be given specialized training and offered higher pay and perks.

The Intelligence and Analysis Wing of OCTOPUS will collect intelligence at sub-divisional, district, commissionerate, metropolitan and state levels. Technical Intelligence Wing will have forensic, cyber and communication monitoring cells. Its Research & Analysis Wing will take up data interpretation, news analysis of print and electronic media besides inter-agency coordination and planning.

The Operations Wing of OCTOPUS will undertake surveillance through watch and shadow teams and recording and interception of communications. For field operations, assault teams, including bomb disposal squads, will be located at strategic locations.

Rescue teams will be formed with para-medicos and ambulances for speedy medical assistance to victims in case of terror attacks. Coordination and communication teams will also be constituted.

OCTOPUS will also function as an investigation team for collection of evidence and scientific deduction with experts and forensic scientists and dog squads. It will also take up prosecution of terror-related cases.