Srinagar
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed over 500 women commandos to deal with such stone pelters in Kashmir valley, reports claimed.
According to a report published by Times of India, the special CRPF women’s unit, which has been trained in combat, special operations and all kinds of weaponry including pump action guns, shotguns used for firing PAVA shells, chilli-filled grenades, tear gas shells and pellet guns, is being familiarised with the topography and dynamics of violence in the Valley. They are also being readied for night-time deployment by training blindfolded.
The women troopers, CRPF said, will be armed with assault rifles as well so they can retaliate in case of an attack. They will be equipped with lightweight body protectors, helmets, wooden sticks, bullet-proof jackets and lethal and non-lethal ammunition, the report mentioned.
After 45 days of induction training at the force’s Humhuma recruitment training center in Srinagar, these women are likely to be deployed in disturbed belts of Srinagar, Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam, Budgam, and Islamabad.
The women commandos will take the lead while their male counterparts will assist them while dealing with the female stone pelters.
Although stone-pelting incidents have come down in the Valley since 2016, over 300 incidents have been reported this year.
“The women were deployed in Kashmir earlier as well for law and order duties. But their use in handling extreme situations was limited,” TOI quoted military force’s director general Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar as saying.
