Army takes over BSF posts along LoC

Sources in Jammu confirmed that the Army’s counter insurgency grid in the region has been temporarily readjusted to ‘free’ at least six BSF columns for law and order duties. The move comes after the civil administration requested the Centre to send in more troops to quell rioters in the region.

In a reprieve to the Army, the Centre decided to pull out paramilitary troops from the LoC to take on law and order duty instead of asking the Army to pitch in.

“To deploy additional paramilitary forces in the region some have been pulled out of the counter insurgency grid. These soldiers are being relieved by regular Army troops,” a senior officer in Jammu confirmed. The paramilitary soldiers will now conduct flag marches and enforce curfew in the region.

While the BSF is primarily deployed along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, several companies in the state are attached to Army units involved in counter insurgency operations. These companies are under the operational command of the Army.

The move comes after concerns were raised over the prolonged deployment of Army troops to enforce peace. Experts had insisted that over exposure of the Army to internal peacekeeping duties would reduce their effectiveness of controlling mobs. They had also raised questions over the non-deployment of central paramilitary forces to control the situation.

However, the BSF deployments will not bring much relief to the Army that has more than 45 columns dedicated to law and order duties. Sources confirmed that the columns would stay put in the region till the civil administration needs them.

Earlier, the Army, for the first time, had called in troops from outside Jammu and Kashmir to come to the aid of the civil administration. With over 4,500 soldiers deployed in the Jammu region after the land row, the Army’s presence is at an all time high in the state.