Click to play videoSrinagar (Jammu & Kashmir): These days, one can find rag pickers sifting through the rubble of a sand bunker, evacuated by BSF and CRPF jawans at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
The reason -- CRPF moved out of the bunker, 18 years after dozens of militants had openly brandished Kalashnikovs at the Jamia Masjid square and residents are more than welcoming the decision.
Says a resident of the area, Mohammad Ashraf, "We are happy that the camp has been moved out from the area. The traffic will move smoothly now. Several grenades were lobbed here, so we hope that the place will be calm now.''
Twenty-six battalions of CRPF are deployed in Srinagar alone. At the peak of militancy, the forces had erected scores of pill boxes, several barricades and barbed wire to dissuade hit and run attacks.
Now, they are being removed from downtown Srinagar as well as the Dal Lake area, long considered as militant hotbeds.
Says Operations DIG CRPF, M Nathaniel, "We are going to further reduce the bunkers depending on the situation. This also ensures smooth flow of traffic."
The demand of troop withdrawal has been met with stiff opposition by almost all the opposition parties in the state, but in Kashmir, the CRPF has started the move to cut down its bunkers and the move is being appreciated by the people.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
PHOTOGALLERY
