Land Allotted At 10 Locations To Establish Camps: CRPF DG
Srinagar- The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is occupying as many as 737 premises, including houses of Kashmiri Pandits, industrial units and factories, besides hotels and orchards across the Kashmir Valley, even as the Union Territory administration has transferred swathes of land to the force for establishing camps.
According to CRPF Director General (DG) Kuldiep Singh, the force, in Kashmir, has in its possession as many as 737 premises on which it has established camps and offices.
These include 333 government buildings, 265 private buildings, including those of Kashmiri Pandits, 71 pieces of agricultural land, 26 industrial units or factories, 30 hotels, eight orchards, two cinema halls, a school and a hospital.
Singh said the force has been transferred 524 kanals of land for creating its camps at 10 locations in Jammu and Kashmir.
The administration of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir pays rent to owners in case of private properties, a senior CRPF officer said.
Maintaining that the atmosphere is conducive for anyone to visit Kashmir, the CRPF DG said for Kashmiri Pandits return, the call has to be taken by them or ”agencies”.
The chief of the country’s largest paramilitary force, which has deployed close to 65,000 personnel in the Kashmir Valley, said the CRPF will ensure that ”whenever they are asked to make the atmosphere conducive by the government, they will do it”.
”The atmosphere is conducive for anyone to visit Kashmir, come and go. For Kashmiri Pandits, that call has to be taken by them or agencies. I don’t know that…,” Singh said, adding that ”whatever the government asks us to do, we will do that”.
He also said that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will vacate the premises of those Kashmiri Pandits who come back to ”claim” their ancestral properties in the Valley.
”If they (Kashmiri Pandits) come to claim their properties held by us, we have no objections. We will immediately seek another place from the government,” the DG said.
Asked if the about 3.25 lakh personnel strong force will hold an exclusive screening of ”The Kashmir Files” movie for its staff, Singh said the CRPF has not taken a call on this as of now.
”Any film or drama that has motivational or inspirational content should be watched. We are a big force that is spread across…we will have to make arrangements. We will think about it,” he said.
”The Kashmir Files” is a Bollywood film based on the alleged atrocities against Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
The CRPF will hold its 83rd Raising Day on March 19 in Jammu where Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take the salute of the ceremonial parade and also address troops.
The minister will subsequently chair a multi-agency security meeting on various operations being conducted by them in the Union Territory.
Stone Pelting Nil After Art-370 Abrogation’
There is “definitely” a periodic spurt in militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir but these are immediately contained by government forces, Singh said.
The months of December and January have been “very good” for security forces and their success rate has been high and there are times when a spurt is seen in militant violence.
“There has not been a spurt in terrorist incidents as it was being thought. There have been 2-3 incidents recently and yes, if you feel that these incidents are increasing, then yes definitely there is a spike but this spike has been contained immediately,” the DG said.
He was addressing a press conference ahead of the 83rd Raising Day of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to be celebrated on March 19 in Jammu.
The about 3.25 lakh personnel strong force was raised under the British rule in 1939 and it is currently designated as the lead internal security force of the country with a primary role in anti-Naxal operations and counter-militancy duties in Kashmir.
On Wednesday, three militants have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir and sometime back a foreign militant was killed, he said.
In the case of the killing of an off-duty CRPF jawan in Kashmir, the security forces got into quick action and have arrested the attacker, he said.
“So, it is a periodic thing…but we undertake quick and immediate action to control such incidents,” the DG said.
He added that these incidents are not totally controlled by internal militants but from across the border too.
“Instructions for targeting someone in Jammu and Kashmir come from foreign soil too…there are intelligence inputs too. But the situation is not out of hand (in J&K),” Singh said.
He said that after the abrogation of Article 370 that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, incidents of stone pelting have come down to “nil” now and the number of foreign militants operating in Kashmir Valley too is very less.
According to CRPF data, a total of 175 militants have been killed by it in the past year in Jammu and Kashmir, 183 have been apprehended and two have surrendered. Three CRPF personnel were killed while 61 injured between March 2021 and March 16 this year.
The DG also said that they are looking at a “truck scanner” like gadget, called the multi-mode passive detection system, to detect hidden arms and ammunition in large vehicles.
There have been incidents where armed militants hiding in trucks and four-wheelers have been intercepted at check-posts on roads in Jammu and Kashmir.
CRPF teams will go and see these technologies and gadgets in the US and some other places where they are working on the ground and if found efficient, the force will procure them, Singh said.
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