Over 7, 200 paramilitary troops to be withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir
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The Ministry of Home Affairs had started withdrawing forces from Jammu and Kashmir from the second week of December.
The Ministry of Home Affairs decided to withdraw 7, 200 paramilitary troops from Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
The decision was taken in during the high-level security review meeting, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The meeting was attended by government officials like National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief Bipin Rawat, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director, CRPF Director General and Jammu and Kashmir Governor.
"The Ministry has decided to withdraw 72 Coys of CAPFs (CRPF-24, BSF-12, ITBP-12, CISF-12 and SSB-12) with immediate effect from Jammu and Kashmir and revert back to their respective locations," the ministry stated in the order.
The high-level meeting came over five months after the special status to Jammu and Kashmir was repealed and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had started withdrawing forces from Jammu and Kashmir from the second week of December.
Initially, the forces were reverted to Assam and Manipur and an order was issued on Monday that forces which were sent to Jammu and Kashmir from Delhi will be reverted back to to the national capital.
In August, the central government had deployed over 10,000 central forces personnel to Kashmir valley citing security threat in Jammu and Kashmir.
(With inputs from agencies)