CRPF pull-out begins in J&K

With the Centre acceding to the request of the Jammu and Kashmir government to assign law and order duties to the police, the process of pullout of the Central Reserve Police Force, a para-military force, from the state has begun in a phased manner.

The pull-out of the force in Srinagar, has been set in motion, a CRPF spokesman told PTI.

Additional CRPF personnel, requisitioned to maintain law and order during the stir over the Amarnath land row and later the state assembly election, have started returning to their bases, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah favours a dominant role for police with regard to maintaining law and order in the state.

"We want the state police to play a bigger role. We want para-military forces to assist police rather than the police assisting them," Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar last week.

Making police entirely responsible for the law and order in Srinagar has been welcomed by the people and this pull-out will be extended to other areas in a phased manner, the CM had said.

The Central Reserve Police Force had come under attack during the agitation over the land controversy with mainstream political parties and separatists accusing it of using excessive force on the protesters.