BREAKING NEWS: CRPF dedicates memorial to 40 Pulwama attack martyrs in J&K

NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Friday (February 14, 2020) dedicated a memorial to its 40 brave personnel, who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14, 2019, at the Lethpora camp in Jammu and Kashmir - on the first anniversary of worst terror attack in nearly two decades.

The memorial has been set up inside a CRPF camp adjacent to the place where Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Adeel Ahmed Dar, driving an explosive-laden car, blew himself next to a convoy of security forces killing the 40 personnel. 

The names of all the 40 CRPF personnel along with their pictures are part of the memorial, which has been built inside the camp adjacent to the site where Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar had blown himself up.

Additional Director General of CRPF Zulfiqar Hasan was the chief guest during the event. Hasan, who visited the site where the memorial has been erected, had on Thursday said, "It is a way to pay homage to the brave jawans who lost their lives in the attack.”

"It definitely was an unfortunate incident and we have learnt our lessons now. We were always extra alert during our movement but now an extra layer of alertness has been added to it," Hasan said earlier. The supreme sacrifices of the 40 soldiers has furthered increased "our resolve to eliminate enemies of the country," he added.

"We fight with extra vigour during an encounter with terrorists and that is why we were able to eliminate the entire Jaish-e-Mohammed commanders immediately after the attack on our jawans," he said.

While he refused to spell out the precaution that is taken during troop movements in the aftermath of the February 14 attack, officials in the security establishment said the movement of troops is now done in coordination with other security forces and the army.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had also allowed the CRPF to carry its troops by air to avoid the possibility of any such attack. The erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir government had imposed a ban on plying of private vehicles for two days in a week to facilitate the movement of troops. The order was later rescinded after the situation became normal.

The process of bullet-proofing of vehicles carrying the troops was expedited and more and more bunker-type vehicles were seen on roads carrying the soldiers.

A CRPF convoy of 70 vehicles was targeted by an explosives-laden SUV that was being driven by a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber, who was later identified as Adil Ahmad Dar. The vehicle rammed into one of the CRPF buses, killing 40 personnel onboard. The Pulwama terror attack was condemned by PM Narendra Modi in very strongest terms. PM Modi then said that the terrorists had committed a huge mistake and they will pay for it.

13 days later, India avenged the Pulwama attack by bombarding the Jaish terror camps located in Pakistan's Balakot, reportedly killing between 200-300 terrorists. Almost all the conspirators behind the dastardly attack have since been killed with the last one being Qari Yasir, the self-styled chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, who was killed last month.