Srinagar, Aug 06: The CRPF, which is to take over the counter-insurgency operations in the entire country by 2005, has a high success rate in tackling suicide attacks, a senior official said today. "So far we have encountered 13 Fidayeen attacks in the valley in which 10 militants were killed. CRPF is probably the only force which has not allowed militants to get away after entering our camps," Inspector General of police (CRPF) G M Shrivastava told reporters here.
He said that CRPF would take over the counter-insurgency operations in the entire country by 2005 and the force was completely geared up for the task. Rashtriya rifles would be assisting the force in the job.
"CRPF has the capability of shouldering the responsibility and we had proved it in northeast and Punjab. We played a major role in quelling militancy in Punjab and did a good job in northeast also. We are fully geared up to face the challenge here too," Shrivastava said.
Once the CRPF takes over the counter-insurgency operations, all other forces would move back to the positions for which they were trained and mandated for. Forces like BSF and ITBP can move back to guarding the borders, he said.
The deployment was to start in Kashmir valley this year but had to be delayed due to some other pressing needs. The take-over would be done in phases and start from certain towns of Srinagar in November, Shrivastava said.
Bureau Report