Andhra Pradesh Greyhound

The Greyhounds are an elite commando force of Andhra Pradesh, India created to combat left wing extremists.

The force was created in 1986 to control the Maoists who at one time had a strong presence in 23 of the state's 26 districts. It was first headed by an IPS officer, Vyas.

Only the best policemen of Andhra Pradesh make it to the Greyhound squad, which is one of the highest paid in the country - even better than the elite National Security Guard.

The state has been a long-time guerrilla hotbed but since 2005, the elite force prowling the backcountry and supported by paid informants at the village level have managed to arrest or kill several top rebels.

The force, which numbers around 2,000 in the state, moves around in small bands of 15-25 commandos. They are specially trained for deep forest pursuit and combat.

Over the past two years, the rebel ranks have fallen from around 1,000 hardcore members to some 400 today.