Centre to withdraw 100 companies of paramilitary forces from Jammu-Kashmir

Guwahati: The Centre on Wednesday has announced to withdraw 100 companies or around 10,000 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Worth mentioning is that this is the biggest de-induction of these forces after additional troops were rushed to the UT post the abrogation of the Article 370 of the Constitution that gave the erstwhile state a unique status.

As per the orders given, the 100 companies of paramilitary personnel to be withdrawn include 40 companies of CRPF and 20 each of the BSF, CISF, and SSB.

Officials stated that the decision was finalized after the MHA reviewed the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the union territory.

Nearly 100 CAPF companies have been asked to withdraw and go back to their base locations in the country from where they were mobilised to the UT after the abrogation of Article 370, in August last year.

Notably, a CAPF company usually has an operational strength of about 100 security personnel.

As per reports, the home ministry had last withdrawn about 82 CAPF companies from Jammu and Kashmir in December. Consequently, 182 companies of security forces stand withdrawn now in the Kashmir Valley.

With the latest withdrawal of security personnel, the CRPF will have a strength of about 60 battalions (about 1,000 personnel in each battalion) in the Kashmir Valley apart from very few units of other CAPF staff.

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