NEW DELHI: The Central Reserved Police Force, which lost 40 personnel in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, has changed many of its operating procedures of convoy movement and terror encounters over the years to deal more effectively with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The paramilitary force is now equipped with advanced weapons and modified gadgets to deal with any such attack in the future.
Under the new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), fast tags are to be used to check unauthorised entry of vehicles in the convoy and CCTVs have been installed at toll gates to check movement of vehicles .
As per the new procedures, a set of convoys will move together on pre-decided days only and convoys do not take one route every time and multiple vehicles advance simultaneously.
Talking about the changes brought to prevent similar terror attacks in future, the Union home ministry also started air courier service for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel reaching J&K to join their duties.
Three years ago, when the attack took place, the CRPF used to have up to Level 3 bulletproof jackets. It has now been upgraded with Level 4. The CRPF has advanced its vehicles and helmets too.
Also, bulletproof and Sherpa vehicles, which can face heavy firing and can park close to the encounter site, have been introduced in the force, a senior CRPF officer said.
Use of drones during the operations and movements was increased too, he said. CRPF camps are equipped with CCTVs and manned by heavy armed jawans.
In case of any attack, these camps have a three-level defence system, said a senior CRPF official, who is based in Kashmir.
India hits out at Pakistan at UN
The world knows where perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai, 2016 Pathankot and 2019 Pulwama terror attacks came from and it is "regretful" that facilitators of these "dastardly" acts continue to enjoy State support and hospitality, India said at the UN, strongly hitting out at Pakistan saying "this epicentre of terrorism" nurtures terror entities with links to more than 150 UN-designated entities and individuals.
Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Rajesh Parihar began his remarks to the open briefing of the Counter-Terrorism Committee by recalling that exactly three years ago on February 14, 2019, 40 brave men of Indian security personnel were martyred in a "dastardly terrorist attack" in Pulwama carried out by Jaish-E-Mohammad.
He paid homage to their sacrifice.
"The world had witnessed the horrors of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the 2016 Pathankot terror attack, and the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack. We all know from where the perpetrators of these attacks came from," Parihar said, delivering India's national statement at the open briefing on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) with the Member States of South and South-East Asia.
He said it is 'regretful" that victims of these dastardly attacks are yet to get justice, and the perpetrators, facilitators and financiers of these attacks continue to walk free, "still enjoying State support and hospitality," making a reference to Pakistan.
"This epicentre of terrorism nurtures terrorist entities with links to more than 150 UN-designated entities and individuals, and its leaders often extol terrorists as 'martyrs'," he said, alluding to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan calling slain Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as a martyr.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti had opened the briefing with his remarks as Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.
Parihar asserted that India is "fully committed" to bringing the perpetrators of these terror attacks on its soil to justice, while he emphasised that it is "high time" the international community calls upon "this epicentre of terror state" to take effective, credible, verifiable, and irreversible actions without further delay against terror outfits operating on its territory and under their control.
Parihar said, "we have consistently witnessed terror attacks on ethnic, sectarian and religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. The growth of extremist ideology in our neighbouring state is bolstered by their patronage of radical outfits. The mainstreaming of radicalism and communal ideology by the State has also provided a fertile environment for the growth of terror infrastructure in the region," he said.
Noting with concern that the terrorist threat posed by State-sponsored terrorism has remained high in the South Asia region, he said many countries in the South Asia region have been victims of State-sponsored terrorism in the last five decades.
"The UN-designated terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahidin, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, as well as their aliases and proxies continue to operate in the region targeting civilians, security forces, places of worship, soft targets and critical infrastructure," he said.
Underlining that India has been at the receiving end of terror acts, including cross-border terrorism, for past several decades, Parihar said the country has also been at the forefront of the collective global fight against terrorism, advocating and practicing a "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism.
(With PTI Inputs)