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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Unease in Valley over troops

Doval held a series of meetings with top state and security officials during his visit

Muzaffar Raina Srinagar Published 27.07.19, 07:56 PM
Soldiers on a vigil near a war memorial in Srinagar on Friday.

Soldiers on a vigil near a war memorial in Srinagar on Friday. (AP)

The 10,000 additional central paramilitary troops ordered deployed to Jammu and Kashmir are being flown in from various parts of the country, a Union home ministry official said.

The CRPF will send 50 companies, the SSB 30 and the ITBP and BSF 10 each.

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The official said the forces were being deployed to “strengthen the counter-insurgent grid and to maintain law and order in Kashmir.”

Asked specifically whether the fresh troop deployment was linked to the removal of Article 35A, the official said: “Any other motive attributed to the fresh troop deployment is nothing but speculation.”

In February, the Centre had flown 10,000 additional troops to Kashmir, sparking panic. The deployment had coincided with the arrests of scores of separatist leaders, including J&K Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Abduol Hamid Fayaz.

This was nine days after the Pulwama attack and two days before a hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition asking for Article 35A to be scrapped.

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