The security forces — Army, CRPF and BSF — in Jammu and Kashmir have decided to move their convoys in the Valley in a common ‘window of time’ during which civilian traffic will remain suspended. The development comes a week after an explosive-laden vehicle rammed into a bus which was part of CRPF convoy on its way to Kashmir. The terror attack which was carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed at least 40 CRPF personnel, making it the worst terror strike in recent times.
The Indian Express reports that the Jammu-Srinagar convoy movement will be spread over two days with more stops in between instead of the current one-day trip. The forces are also likely to increase the capacity of transit camps which fall on the route. The timing of convoy movement is also being changed as convoys are usually targeted in the sensitive areas of Pulwama and Pampore during the afternoon, the report said.
After the attack, the CRPF held a series of meetings with the Army, BSF and Jammu and Kashmir Police to find a solution that minimises the threat of vehicle-borne IEDs. The CRPF, Army and BSF have a massive presence in the Valley. Informing about what transpired in the meetings, a senior officer told IE that these forces have convoy ‘movement almost every day, through the day’.
“Stopping traffic for such disparate movements can bring the whole Valley to a halt and also make us vulnerable. So we have decided that the three forces will move together in a single window of time. This will reduce both vulnerability and traffic disruption,” the officer said.
He further said that if the security forces are unable to move together, then the attempt would be to move the convoys one after another, within short intervals.
Another officer said that real trouble starts after Qazigund and Banihal because there are some stretches which are vulnerable to attacks on convoys. “We have seen that most of these attacks take place in the afternoon. So we have decided to cross these stretches in the mornings. Ideally, we should reach Srinagar from Qazigund in two-and-a-half hours,” the officer said.
According to the report, this means that the convoys would have to make a night halt. “We have decided that our convoys will halt at Qazigund at night, and then leave for Srinagar early morning the next day. For this, we are increasing the holding capacity of our Qazigund camp which currently stands at 1,000 men,” IE quoted a senior CRPF officer as saying.
The 78-vehicle convoy which came under attack in Pulwama was carrying around 2500 security personnel. The report suggests that the forces are working out a plan to make convoys smaller so that more men can get bulletproof vehicles. “We need to increase the capacity at transit camps so that we can hold more personnel, for two-three days if required, and are not forced to send them because of increasing numbers,” the report quoted an officer as saying.
