Abdullah Rules out Instant Withdrawal of CRPF from J&K

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has ruled out any immediate withdrawal of CRPF from the valley arguing that before any such steps, the state police needs to be boosted in terms of number, equipment and level of training.

Abdullah, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram yesterday, said that he broached upon the issue of withdrawing the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in a phased manner and also the reorganization of security forces came up during the discussions.

As for withdrawal of CRPF from the valley, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said that the state police “is not immediately ready” to fill all gaps.

“The CRPF withdrawal has to be as per a plan and simultaneously the state police will have to gear up to be at the forefront of the anti-militancy operations,” Abdullah said.

“We have over 70 battalions of the CRPF and the state police’s strength is not even one-third of it. Five battalions of the state police which includes India Reserve Police are undergoing training. So any rash decision in this aspect can be detrimental to state’s security,” he said.

“A lot is required to be done in terms of augmenting the numbers of J and K police, upgrading their equipment and improving their levels of training,” he said.