CRPF wants police protection of its officers in J-K

The CRPF officials in the valley have been demanding that its personnel should be guarded by the local police while they shop for essential items and a proper security check of the area be done by them ahead of visit of any senior official of the para-military force, official sources said.

The demand comes against the backdrop of an incident in which four CRPF personnel were gunned down on December 30 by terrorists while watching a cricket match, nine kilometres from Sopore town in North Kashmir.

However, the CRPF spokesperson maintained that they were on road opening duty but the local police station did not agree with the CRPF version.

According to a report submitted to the state home department, the state police said the CRPF personnel were taken off-guard and the para-military personnel had not followed the required standard operating procedures. The terrorists after killing the CRPF personnel had the time to walk away with their service rifles.

Another incident brought forward by the CRPF was of stone pelting on the carcade of Special Director General N K Tripathy when he was on an unannounced visit to Sopore, a town famous for its apples.
While the CRPF spokesperson claimed that Tripathy's bullet-proof car was damaged during the incident, a report from the local police station did not mention anything of the sort.