New Delhi: CRPF has shifted about half-a-dozen of its heavy-armoured Mine Protected Vehicles (MPVs), which were earlier used for anti-Naxal operations, to Kashmir Valley to effectively secure its troops there against attacks like the latest incident in Pampore in which its eight personnel were killed.
The paramilitary had cut down the use of these vehicles for anti-Naxal operations drastically to a “bare minimum” after they were targeted in IED blasts in the Left Wing Extremism-hit areas.
The CRPF feels that these MPVs will now come in handy in view of its increased role in Jammu and Kashmir to open and secure roads for movement of paramilitary, defence and VIP convoys and a rise in the number of militant ambushes.
“We have shifted some of our MPVs from Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-hit areas to the Kashmir Valley to effectively secure our men during convoy movements and road opening tasks. The MPVs are ready for deployment for operations in Kashmir. If need arises, we could bring in more,” CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said. He said the MPVs, it is envisaged, will provide better protection in case of a militant ambush and firing on the troops, similar to what was seen in Pampore on Saturday.
Two militants had opened fire on a Central Reserve Police Force bus, killing eight men and injuring two dozen of them while they were moving towards Srinagar in a convoy after a firing practice.
The CRPF chief said the force has also ordered 20 brand new modern MPVs from the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) that will be deployed in some of the most difficult Maoist-violence hit areas.
The modern MPVs will ensure better protection to the troops in LWE areas as compared to the older ones which were used very sparingly now, he noted.
The operational dynamics in the LWE operations grid and counter-terrorist theatre in Jammu and Kashmir are different.
So, the requirement of MPVs in these areas is different and it is good that the CRPF already had such mine-protected vehicles which are also bullet-proof and can be used in Kashmir Valley, the DG said.
A few years ago, the paramilitary force had rolled back and stationed over 50 such troop-carrying vehicles in its camps in various LWE-affected states. PTI