Law and order in Kashmir improved a lot since abrogation of Article 370 provisions: CRPF officer

SRINAGAR: The law-and-order situation in Kashmir has improved a lot since the abrogation of Article 370 provisions, a top CRPF officer said on Sunday.

He asserted that security forces have changed their standard operating procedures, equipment and training to ensure that terror attack like that in Pulwama in 2019 doesn’t recur.

On the sidelines of an event held to pay tribute to the 40 CRPF jawans killed in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, the force’s Inspector General (Operations), Kashmir, Deepak Ratan said the top leadership of various militant organisations has been destroyed.

“There has been a lot of improvement in the law-and-order situation in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 provisions,” Ratan said near the memorial at Lethpora.

Asserting that top leadership of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and other militant outfits has been destroyed, he said, “Their network has been dismantled. It has also had an effect on their recruitment which has witnessed a decline.”

The CRPF officer said the force has undertaken radical changes in its strategy in Kashmir after the attack.

“We have revised the SoPs for every duty that we undertake and not just the road opening party duty. We have undergone upgradation in training, including in how to respond to situations we could face which are unique in Kashmir.”

He said the force has also been upgraded its weaponry and technology has been used in such a way that such incidents are not repeated.

The IG CRPF said the use of drones and CCTV cameras on national highway has made a huge difference in the security of the convoys.

“We have installed CCTV cameras, drones and face-recognition cameras. We have modified our vehicles in such a way that in the event of an attack on a convoy or a civilian vehicle, the terrorists will be given a befitting reply,” he said.

The CRPF officer said the force salutes the families of the martyrs and assures them that the whole country is with them.

“They are part of the CRPF family and the whole country shares their pain and will be with them shoulder-to-shoulder,” he added.

Ratan along with other officials of the CRPF and police paid floral tributes to the 40 martyred CRPF personnel.

CRPF officials from Delhi, including the director General of the force, and all CRPF camps across the valley paid their homage to their martyred colleagues virtually because of COVID. (PTI)