New Delhi: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has sought details from the commanding officer of its Pahalgam unit who, along with his quick action team commandos, “was the first to reach Baisaran meadow” where terrorists shot 26 people dead on April 22, sources said.
They said CRPF Director General G P Singh held a video conference from Chhattisgarh, which was attended by Commanding Officer Rajesh Kumar and other officers of the 116th battalion, other company commanders as well as senior and junior rank officers.
Officials told PTI that the Director General instructed the Inspector General of Kashmir Zone to seek minute-by-minute details from the commanding officer on how the terrorist attack took place and if there was any lapse on part of the unit.
Senior CRPF officers said the commanding officer and his quick action team displayed “great courage” while responding to the situation and reached the spot at around 2.30 pm, taking 40-45 minutes on the steep climb to the meadows, after ponywallahs running down informed them about the killings.
They said the apparent “pulling up” instead of recognition will “demoralise” the unit’s personnel and the commanding officer who responded swiftly to the situation with “bare essentials and not knowing the actual threat on top of the meadows.”
Officials at the CRPF headquarters in Delhi said while the Director General “appreciated” the unit’s “prompt response”, he underlined that the “primary responsibility of CRPF and other security agencies is to keep people safe.”
The Director General has sought details from the commanding officer on “what actions were taken to prevent such an attack at a tourist destination, which is just about 6 kilometres from the battalion base.”
The CRPF officials explained that the force is deployed “in aid” of the Union Territory and its police and hence cannot act on its own. The unit gets deployed on the instructions of Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the CRPF was not entrusted with the security of the Baisaran area that day, they said.
The Director General, as per sources, also “made it clear that CRPF should undertake independent operations in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that the area they are deployed in is kept safe.”
The force chief asked some questions so that “things improve” from here on, a senior officer at the headquarters said.
As per officials who spoke to PTI earlier, the Delta company base of the 116th CRPF battalion is located just 6 kilometres below the Baisaran meadow area. The commanding officer of this unit saw ponywallahs running and quizzed them on the fateful day.
The ponywallahs told him “Sahab kuch hua hai upar Baisaran mein… Shayad goliyan chali hain (Sir, something has happened in Baisaran… Some bullets have been fired),” officials had said.
The commanding officer “immediately ordered his quick action team stationed nearby to report and a team of about 25 commandos quickly undertook a 40-45 minute trek on the slushy and rocky track to reach the meadows”.
Assistant Commandant Raashi Sikarwar who joined in was “tasked by the commanding officer to take care of women and children as many of them were injured, screaming and scared,” they had said.
This CRPF unit rescued three men who were shot, but one of them died while being shifted to the hospital, they said.
