J&K police to procure WSTS to prevent weapon snatching by militants

Jammu and Kashmir is all set to procure high-tech Weapon Safety and Tracking Systems (WSTS) that will not only prevent weapon snatching by militants but also track the snatched ones online.

After a spurt in weapon-snatching incidents and some policemen deserting the force to join militant ranks along with weapons, the police recently floated tender inviting manufacturers or their authorised dealers for the supply of WSTS.

According to official data, nearly 200 weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, SLRs and INSAS rifles have been snatched by the militants or taken away by cop-turned-ultras since 2016.

"WSTS will have trigger-based locking units with GPS trackers so that they cannot be misused and can be speedily traced if looted. Such devices will also be compatible with firearms and could be removed only by the biometrics of authorised users," a senior police officer privy with the development told DH.

He said the system also carries finger and palm print scanners fitted in the grip to operate trigger locks. "The trial run of the system has been successfully done and it works with every network. It has been tried and tested in far-flung areas as well and it works well on the 2G network as well. Even if in the present situation, it can be tracked by whitelisting the tracking server," the officer added.

Another officer said that even if militants manage to loot the weapon, they won't be able to use it as the trigger-system will be locked and can be used only by the authorised user.

Earlier, the police had floated tenders to procure Liquid Explosive Detectors (LED). This will be the first of its kind of procurement which is aimed at thwarting the continuous attempts by militant outfits to target civilians and security forces in the region. It was done after five Jaish-e-Muhammad militants arrested from Srinagar who were involved in two grenade attacks in the Hazratbal area of Srinagar last month and had managed to make 100 to 200 sticks of gelatin with the aim of making IEDs to target the security forces.