Home minister Shah to visit ITBP hqrs next week

Union home minister Amit Shah is expected to visit the headquarters of the border guarding force ITBP here next week and review its operational preparedness along the LAC with China and in other internal security duties, officials said on Friday.

They said Shah may visit the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force head office situated at Lodhi Road on November 26 along with some senior officials of the home ministry.

This will be the first visit of Shah to the ITBP headquarters after he took over as the home minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet this year.

The minister had made a similar maiden visit to the CRPF headquarters here last week.

ITBP brass is expected to make a presentation on the deployment, operations and other administrative details of the force during the visit.

Information about a number of new acquisitions made by the force, like high-powered vehicles, heavy earth movers and latest communication equipments, will also be showcased, the officials said.

The about 90,000 personnel strength ITBP is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China that runs from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh and it also renders a variety of duties in the internal security domain, including conducting anti-Naxal operations.

It was raised in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression and is one amongst the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) under the Union home ministry.