Thin Metal Plates On Buses Offer No Help Against Bullets, CRPF Tell Government After Pulwama Attack
After the Pulwama attack which left over 40 paramilitary soldiers martyred the CRPF has told the government that buses with thin metallic plates which offer no protection from bullets or IED. They have demanded facilities at par with an army which gets armoured vehicles.
After the Pulwama attack which left over 40 paramilitary soldiers martyred, the CRPF has told the government that buses "with thin metallic plates which offer no protection from bullets or IED¡±, and demanded facilities at par with an army which gets armoured vehicles. The demands for better-armoured vehicles and better support have been raised time and again, but most of the time, they have fallen on deaf ears. Many even argued that if the soldiers had been airlifted, the loss of lives could have been prevented.
PTI
The report says and was quoted by the News18 that while the convoys get smooth run during summers they are ¡°not regular during winters and rainy season because of snowfall and landslide¡± and this leaves the soldiers stranded in big numbers at Jammu¡¯s transit camp often. ¡°The transit camp has limited capacity to accommodate thousand personnel at a time (and) beyond that personnel are shifted to nearby location,¡± says the report.
¡°Up convoy (from Jammu to Srinagar) plied only three days in the past 15 days because of heavy snowfall. The Last up convoy on (February 4) in which 91 vehicles with 2871 transient (forces) moved from Jammu to Srinagar,¡± said the report.
Trying to get over the ¡°tedious¡± procurement process of armoured vehicles and other better facilities, in July 2018, the CRPF attempted to armour plate many vehicles by arranging local meta sheets, concrete and wooden planks.
"We are trying to acquire more bullet-proof vehicles (for deployment in Kashmir). Since the rate of procurement and procurement through suppliers is a tedious process...we decided to improvise," CRPF Director General RR Bhatnagar had told reporters earlier on 78th Raising Days of the CRPF.
The report also said that threat like IEDs and bullets could have been dealt with, but the use of a vehicle full with explosive took the force off guard.
¡°The threat to convoy in the valley has always been from standoff firing and IED planted conventionally for which adequate security measures have been devised and implemented. Troops too have been trained and sensitised for the same,¡± says the report.
