SPOs recruited to fight militants

Reviewing the situation, the officials decided to regroup the existing forces and expedite the recruitment of SPOs to give armed resistance to militants in each and every village in the region.

In this connection, sources said over 2,000 SPOs are being recruited in Doda district and nearly 1,000 in Udhampur district for the purpose. Same will be the position in respect of the other two militancy-infested districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the region.

A senior police official said halfof these newly recruited SPOs would be deployed in villages and the remaining for operational duties, especially collecting information about the movement of militants in their respective areas. This will be followed by a major offensive against militants in all the districts simultaneously, he added.

However, to prevent militants escape from one district to another in the wake of security forces and the police pressure, the latter will also be deployed at possible infiltration and exfiltration routes in high altitudes. This will be done in such a manner that militants get holed up in their respective districts, sources said.