Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir police is all set to get non-lethal weapons and ammunitions to deal with the mob during violent protests in the state in order to ensure zero causality and less injury to both sides.
The use of non-lethal equipments and body protectors by police this year has resulted in zero death of civilians and security personnel. It has also resulted in less number of injuries during law and order disturbances in the state,
Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda said.
"The new equipments include Blast Dispersal Cartridges (BDC), Vehicle mounted tear-smoke devices and Stun-lac grenades," he told a news agency here.
"The supply is underway in addition to the other equipments which are already being used by the police in the past," the DGP said.
The items ordered also include body protectors, polycarbonate shields, polycarbonate lathis, helmets and visors, bullet proof bunkers, pump action guns, water canons, anti-riot rifles, rubber pellets and plastic pellets.
In addition to this, the state police has also set up exclusive five law and order battalions to deal with protestors in Jammu and Kashmir.
The training imparted to the jawans and officers in using non-lethal equipments would help them in controlling the situations without causing any damage to the human lives.
The security personnel this year during protests used Oliristen grenades, which emit irritant gas with pungent smell, modified plastic body tear smoke shell, dye-maker grenade, blue-coloured water canons on demonstrators and
stone-pelters in down-town and Srinagar city, which were very effective in controlling crowds and affecting zero-causalities and less injuries.
Dye-maker grenades and coloured water canons used to dye protestors in colours, which takes 3-4 days to get washed out, Khoda said, adding that youth drenched in colours used to stay home for some time.
The Oliristen grenades also proved very successful in view of release of irritant and pungent smell, he added.
The three-month civil unrest in the Kashmir Valley last year saw angry mobs torching government and police properties, causing a nightmare for security personnel in the state.
Last year, 112 civilians and policemen died, 1,049 civilians and 4,000 security men were injured in law and order disturbances, the DGP said, adding of these 825 security men had suffered critical injuries due to stone pelting.
Following the unrest, the state police had approached the state and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking non-lethal weapons and appropriate gear to avoid casualties on both sides.
The items were modified after visiting Tikinpora BSF Academy according to the needs.
The Union Home Ministry in November had constituted a group under the chairmanship of the Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda to draft a Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) for controlling mob violence across the country with least damage to life and property.
The SOP was drafted and submitted to the Union Home Ministry for implementation last month.
The move to procure non-lethal weapons comes in the backdrop of the flak faced by security forces in the state following the summer unrest which claimed many lives.
PTI
