Peace is in the air: CRPF has decided to remove the barricades in Srinagar city as a goodwill gesture on the eve of holy fasting month of Ramzan which starts either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“CRPF has issued instructions to all deployment in downtown to remove barricades and other obstructions, which is causing inconvenience to traffic and public, on the eve of Ramzan. CRPF wishes the people of Jammu and Kashmir, a happy, prosperous and peaceful Ramzan”, said Sudhir Kumar, public relation officer, CRPF.
Kumar said the steps have been taken to give relief to the people who have been enthusiastically participating in the civic-action programmes of the CRPF. “We have conducted several football and cricket tournaments besides organized medical camps. There has been huge response from the people. Therefore we decided to remove the barricades which were set-up as a security measure”, he said.
CRPF used to close some key roads and erect barricades on the major roads during night as a precautionary measure. These include Ikhwan Chowk, Chinkaral Mohollah and Amira Kadal and others. “Due to security reasons we used to block one portion of the road. Now we have decided to allow people’s movement without any hassles”, said Kumar.
Official figures reveal there are around eight battalions of the CRPF deployed in sensitive down town which was the epicenter of last year unrest and stone pelting. Around 1274 CRPF men and 2747 police personnel have been injured during the incidents of stone pelting from May to September 21, 2010 in the Kashmir valley. More than 117 civilians were killed and 537 other injured mostly in the firing of police and security forces.
Around 70 battalions of CRPF are deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and majority of them are serving in the Kashmir valley.
CRPF performs dual role of law and order and counter insurgency duties along with the state police. CRPF is subservient to the local police regarding the counter-insurgency duties as most of the times they conduct joint operation.
