Security enhanced in Jammu and Kashmir, CRPF deploys additional troops

The meeting was held to strengthen the security in Rajouri and Poonch areas, according to a statement by the CRPF.

In order to strengthen the security of the area, the CRPF is also planning to provide weapons training to Village Defence Committee (VDC) guards in the Union Territory, government officials said on Monday.

The aim is to make the VDC guards able to safeguard the villagers in case of any terrorist attack, said the officials, privy to the development.

A CRPF official, requesting anonymity, told ANI that the weapons training for the VDC guards will help them secure several families from any territory attack, as well as fill a sense of security among the villagers.

The information comes days after, Lt Governor of Jammu Manoj Sinha on January 2 assured the people that they would get a Village Defence Committee on the lines of those in the Doda district. Sinha's declaration came following demands of locals after militants killed seven people, including two children, in two days in the Upper Dangri village of Jammu and Kashmir last Sunday and Monday.

Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned approval for the creation of Village Defence Guard Scheme-2022 in Jammu and Kashmir last year which came into effect on August 15, 2022.

Earlier, this scheme was known as Village Defence Committee in which volunteers from villages were trained by Indian Army and Police. Under this scheme, rifles were provided to VDC and they protected their villages from terrorist attacks and terror-related activities especially the vulnerable villages in mountainous areas of the Jammu region.

VDC members had helped Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in the fight against Terrorism. There was long demand by the VDC members that this committee should be more organized and there should be some decisions on their payments. (ANI)