Chamba: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), that incurs huge expenditure every year to safeguard the 226 kilometer long border between Jammu and Himachal in Chamba, has decided to call back its forces from the region.
This region is sensitive from security point of view and since 1998 Kalaban-Satrundi attacks, the area was under the surveillance of ITBP forces. Langera Valley, Satrundi, Kalaban, Sach Pass are some of the regions where constant surveillance is required. With ITBP opting to move out of the region, the onus lies with the State Police Department, which is already suffering from manpower deficit.
DG Police, IG Bhandari, stated that the ITBP Forces will be moving out and the State Police is not yet capable of handling the 226 kilometer long border on its own.
In the year 1998, 35 Hindus were killed by militants in the Chamba District at Satrundi-Kalaban, two villages of the state bordering the state of J&K. News of the massacre became public when two of the injured dragged themselves for eight kilometers through the dense forests and reported at the Mansa police post.
The massacre resulted in conflict between Gaddis and the Gujjars of the region.
A tabular report of militant activities in the region:
With ITBP Forces mobbing out, and state police incapable of safeguarding the border, the security of the region is under threat once again.
Now the question that must be asked is, “who is going to safeguard our borders?”
A Civil Engineering graduate from NIT Hamirpur, Tarun has worked in the hydro power and IT sectors in the past. He loves writing and sharing the positive stories floating around in the society, which usually go unnoticed.
For over 2 years, Tarun wandered around the passes, mountain peaks, dangerous roads, and remote villages in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh on his motorcycle.
