Posts of 5 SP Ops abolished, new ones may be posted at Distt Hqrs
Officers with experience in operations to get SP Ops posts
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 21: More security personnel including Army and paramilitary forces and Special Operations Group (SOG) personnel have been deployed in upper reaches of almost all districts of Jammu region where presence of the terrorists has been observed or is suspected while more Village Defence Guards (VDGs) are being recruited especially with a view to plug infiltration routes along the International Border (IB).
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Meanwhile, with a view to streamline anti-militancy operations, the Government appears to have abolished five posts of SP Operations which were created in August 2024.
However, there was no Government order for formal creation of posts and the SP Operations were posted as an interim arrangement to tackle militancy.
New posts were unofficially created in Lower Kathua and Upper Kathua (both in Kathua district), Budhal and Thannamandi, both in Rajouri district, Basantgarh in Udhampur district, Arnas in Reasi district, Surankote in Poonch district and Kishtwar.
Officials told the Excelsior that posts of the SP Operations are being rationalized and now every district in the region may have SP Operations at the headquarters and staff including DySPs, Inspectors, Sub Inspectors and constables etc at different places based on the requirement.
Kathua district had two SP Operations-one looking after the border belt and another hilly areas of Bani, Basohli and Billawar. The SP Operations Border has been shifted. Similarly, SP Operations Surankote in Poonch and SP Operations Thannamandi in Rajouri district were also shifted in the latest order last week. SP Operations Budhal (Rajouri) has been retained.
SP Operations Basantgarh in Udhampur district and Arnas in Reasi district were shifted. These districts are likely to have SP Operations at the district headquarters shortly, the sources said.
Presently, the SP Operations are in place at Jammu, Doda and Kishtwar district headquarters among others.
Sources said the young and dynamic police officers with experience in anti-militancy operations are likely to be posted as the SP Operations within the next few days.
Sources told the Excelsior that post security review meeting of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Srinagar during his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from April 6-8, more troops and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the hilly areas and permanent pickets in the areas where terrorists have been spotted or could be hiding are being created for round-the-clock surveillance and undertaking regular operations to eliminate them.
“Based on contacts established by security forces with terrorists in different areas and specific inputs generated from the people, permanent security pickets are being created in mountainous areas. Permanent presence of security personnel will help undertake regular operations in the heights and will also keep 24×7 vigil on any kind of adverse movement,” the sources said.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been undertaking regular patrolling along with Jammu and Kashmir Police (JK) and SOG in the heights, the sources said, adding the security personnel have been asked to launch search operations in the areas where terrorists were spotted and connecting mountains where they may have escaped after the operations.
As per the sources, more VDGs are being recruited especially to plug the infiltration routes along the International Border as they will help in regular monitoring of the tracks and sound police and SOG about any suspicious movement besides holding up the terrorists till arrival of reinforcement from nearby places.
“A number of routes which the terrorists can take after infiltration have been identified based on their movement, Intelligence inputs as well as information generated from the locals living close to the border belt in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts,” the sources said, adding the VDGs, if available, are being deployed and being recruited if they are not in place to block these routes.
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