SOURCE: NEWS18
Ayear after close to 80,000 paramilitary personnel were mobilised for Jammu and Kashmir, the government in its biggest withdrawal exercise so far has ordered that 100 companies of paramilitary forces be withdrawn from the state. “It is to intimate that the deployment of CAPFs in Jammu and Kashmir has further been reviewed by this ministry. It has been decided to withdraw 100 cos of CAPF with immediate effect from J&K and revert back to their respective locations,” an order issued by the Union home ministry said.
Of these companies, 40 are from CRPF and 20 each from SSB, BSF and CISF. Officials said the SSB, CISF and BSF companies that are being withdrawn are deployed in both Kashmir and Jammu regions.
“The units that are being withdrawn are deployed both in Jammu and Srinagar. It was felt that the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist grid is intact in the UT and these additional units that were sent in last year can be de-inducted giving them the much required rest, recuperation and training,” a senior CAPF officer told News18.
However, CRPF officials said that all 40 companies being withdrawn from the Central Reserve Police Force are from the Valley. “Compared to the kind of mobilisation that was done in July-August 2019, only 10% troops will now remain in the Valley,” a CRPF officer told News18.
Officials said though the final decision of withdrawing troops was that of the MHA, local inputs pointing out reduced number of stone pelting and other law and order incidents were factored in.
As per an MHA report prepared on the eve of the first anniversary of abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the overall security situation in the Valley has improved. In the last one year, close to 150 terrorists have been eliminated, including big names like Riyaz Naikoo. The number of local youth joining terror groups also came down by 40% as per MHA data.
The MHA said 188 terror-related incidences were recorded in Kashmir Valley from January 1 till July 15, while in 2020, the number has reduced to 120. The data says 126 terrorists were killed in Kashmir during the same period in 2019 while 136 terrorists were eliminated during the same time period in 2020. In 2019, 51 grenade attacks took place in Kashmir from January 1 till July 15, while in 2020 the number was just 21.
The home ministry had last withdrawn about 82 CAPF companies from Jammu and Kashmir in December. So after the new MHA order, 182 companies of security forces stand withdrawn now from the Kashmir Valley.
