CRPF set to take over 21 Army camps in Jammu’s Udhampur-Kathua belt; CoBRA deployed

New Delhi, Sep 7: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is all set to take over counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism (CI/CT) responsibilities currently being performed by the Army in parts of the Udhampur and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a senior official, a communication issued has asked CRPF to prepare and to facilitate the replacement of Army personnel in designated CI and CT roles and strengthen the CRPF’s presence in the area.

There will be deployment across 21 locations, with the force requirement being assessed.These locations are hyper sensitive locations and taken on priorities as per the pre-decided plan.

Sources said that these 21 locations will very soon have CRPF take over as the number of troops and formalities are being done.

The plan also involves nine teams of the CRPF’s specialised CoBRA unit, an official said. The document states, an official claimed, that these teams will remain deployed while another nine teams will undergo training with operational deployment to be managed dynamically according to operational requirements.

The move comes amid continued efforts to streamline the deployment of security forces involved in counter-insurgency operations in the Jammu region.

News18 was first to report that J&K in the coming days will see unprecedented structural changes in the deployment of security forces, including the reduction of Rashtriya Rifles troops from various areas and deployment of CRPF.

Sources had told News18 that a phase-wise drawdown plan for the Rashtriya Rifles was discussed and is to be implemented in a phase-wise manner.

It is not that the Rashtriya Rifles will be completely removed from J&K, and a significant number will remain in the future too, sources had said.–(News18)