Paramilitary convoy movement by road in JK to continue

Movement of paramilitary convoys by the roads of Jammu and Kashmir will continue for logistical and operational as it is deemed “necessary”, the Home Ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry said it has significantly enhanced air courier services in all sectors to cut travel time of troops in response to reports alleging that the central government has rejected a proposal to ferry personnel of paramilitary forces from the Jammu-Srinagar sector by chopper.

“Movement of convoys by road for logistical and operational reasons has been and will continue to be necessary. This is also the case with the army,” the Home Ministry said.

“Fact of the matter is, over the last few years, the MHA has significantly enhanced air courier services for CAPFs in all sectors to help jawans cut down on travel time during their journey to and back from home on leave,” it said.

The Home Ministry’s statement comes a few days after when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus, part of a 78 vehicle convoy, in the state’s Pulwama district, killing at least 40 CRPF personnel on Thursday.

In the Jammu and Kashmir sector, air courier service for transportation of jawans of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) have been in operating for a while now.

This initially included the Jammu-Srinagar-Jammu sector. Later, at the request of CAPFs in December 2017, the services were extended to the Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar-Jammu-Delhi sector with seven flights a week.