Jammu, January 5
The police organised a camp to inspect the weapons of the Village Defence Committees’ (VDCs) members on Thursday. At least 72 VDC members from Dhangri and neighboring villages came to the government higher secondary school in the area. Besides repairing the old weapons, police officials handed over new guns to some of the VDC members. “Old ammunition was also replaced. The VDC members without guns will soon get new firearms,” said a police official who was present in the village.
Meanwhile, CRPF companies have also started arriving in villages having significant Hindu population in Rajouri and Poonch.
After the recent terror strikes that killed six in Dhangri, villagers of nearby areas had demanded rejuvenation of the VDCs. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had asked DGP Dilbag Singh to re-strengthen the VDCs on immediate basis.
Kuldeep Kumar, ex serviceman and VDC member, said the police had promised that weapons would be provided to the retired personnel from the Army, the CRPF and the BSF. “The time has come that VDCs are strengthened so that we can take on terrorists whenever required. Ex-servicemen should be provided automatic weapons as terrorists use AK-47 rifles,” he said.
Former personnel of the armed forces have provided details of their service to the police which will be verified before issuing weapons.
Ashok Sharma, another VDC member, said police officials serviced .303 rifles and gave 100 rounds of bullets to each member. “In case of an attack by terrorists, we should have enough ammunition as the police and the Army take time to reach the spot. As many automatic weapons as possible should be provided to the VDC members,” Sharma added.
It is expected that CRPF and police personnel will remain deployed in villages having minority population till Republic Day.