Guwahati, May 22: Set to replace the army in counter-insurgency operations by 2005, CRPF personnel are undergoing ?specialised training? and acquiring sophisticated weapons to take on the heavily-armed militants in the Northeast.
At present, the CRPF is engaged in counter-insurgency operations along with the army and police under the three-tier Unified Command structure in Assam. The jawans are also deployed in the disputed areas along the inter-state boundaries as a ?neutral force?.
CRPF inspector-general (Northeast sector) Rajdeep Singh today told reporters that going by the Centre?s decision to assign one task to one force following the Kargil war, the CRPF will relieve the army and the BSF from their counter-insurgency duty by 2005. He said soldiers from the army are training the CRPF personnel while the force is trying to acquire more sophisticated weapons.
?Keeping in mind the new challenge, we are imparting training to the personnel to improve their fitness, firing skills and modernising our arsenal,? Singh said. But he refused to disclose the location of training centres for ?security reasons?.
The officer said if need be, the force might alter its ?operational location? by stationing the companies closer to the battalion headquarters under it like the army does.
?So far the geographical distance between the companies and the battalions has not affected our functioning but as we go into the new task we might even operate in a more compact manner like the army. The main problem is housing the companies. But once the army vacates the accommodation, the jawans can move in.?
The paramilitary force is also going for a massive recruitment drive to meet the demand of 40 to 45 additional battalions. For the new job, the CRPF would require at least 200 battalions. At present it has around 155, Singh said.
The officer, who has 125 companies under his command in Assam and 10 each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, said the Ulfa is training Garo militants. Though the outfit is sharing camps with the Achik National Volunteers Council and has taken logistical support, it has not conducted any joint offensive. The Khasi outfit, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council is being trained by the NSCN (I-M), he added.
Singh said the response of the youths from the region to join the force was not very encouraging. The CRPF conducts recruitment drives twice a year, but he clarified that the force is not recruiting any surrendered militant.