New Delhi, 21 Aug

The Centre has ordered the deployment of three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalions in the Jammu region as part of a rejig to strengthen the counter-terrorist security grid, official sources said on Thursday.

These units will take over from the Rashtriya Rifles (Army) units deployed in Udhampur and Kathua districts. The Army units will be re-assigned new tasks, the sources said.

The deployment of the CRPF units in Jammu region is part of a new security strategy, where locations in the hinterland are proposed to be handed over to the forces under the Union Home Ministry, while the Army units will be utilised to bolster security along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, the sources told PTI.

Three CRPF battalions are being sent for the task, each having an operational strength of about 800 personnel, they said. Once the CRPF deployment in the two chosen districts is completed, more such areas, including some in the Kashmir valley, will be handed over to the paramilitary force, the sources said.

The Central government has been working on this new security blueprint for about two years following the "improvement" in the situation post the abrogation of Article 370 from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, they said.

The three CRPF battalions earmarked for the task have been augmented with those officials and jawans who have undertaken counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations with "distinction". These units are also being provided with modern weapons, communication tools and armoured vehicles, the sources said.

The units will utilise the infrastructure and assets of the existing Army units, they said.

Security in the Jammu region and its forested areas have gained prominence over the past few years after a number of terrorist attacks and movement were reported from there.

About 485 km of the 2,289 km long India-Pakistan International Border (IB) falls in Jammu region, apart from a small portion of the LoC.