NEW DELHI, Mar 13:
Withdrawal of three CRPF battalions from the Kashmir Valley later this month could be put on hold for sometime in view of the militant attack in Srinagar city today.
Security sources said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which had planned to pull out about 3,000 personnel from the Valley for redeployment in Naxal-affected States, may not be do so in view of the latest development.
CRPF has deployed about 65 battalions (65000 personnel) in the Valley for security-related duties and counter- insurgency operations.
CRPF Director General Pranay Sahay, who flew to Srinagar in view of the attack that killed 5 force personnel, is also expected to hold a meeting with top Jammu and Kashmir police brass with regard to the security situation in the Valley and the State.
The CRPF, according to official sources, wanted to deploy these three battalions in Jharkhand and Bihar for anti-Naxal operations once they are taken out from the State.
The anti-Maoists operations are now the major operational theatre of the central force with close to 80,000 personnel deployed for the task in various naxal-affected States.
Two terrorists, disguised as cricketers, today stormed a CRPF camp near a school at Bemina in Srinagar, killing five CRPF men in a major suicide attack in the city after a gap of three years in which the militants were suspected to be from Pakistan. (PTI)
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