IPS crisis: 16 paramilitary officers sent to Naxal-hit states

Facing acute shortage of IPS cadres, the Home Ministry has dispatched 16 paramilitary officers on probation to Naxal-affected states to work as additional superintendents of police.

Facing acute shortage of IPS cadres, the Home Ministry has dispatched 16 paramilitary officers on probation to Naxal-affected states to work as additional superintendents of police.

HT Image

The second-in-command and deputy commandant rank officers have been drawn from CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB and sent to Maoist-hit Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar.

"The officers have been sent on deputation when the states told the Home Ministry that they don't have enough IPS officers to be posted as ASP in many districts," a senior officer said.

All the 16 officers have put in more than 10 years of service in their respective organisations and have handled sensitive assignments and worked in hostile environments, including in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.

The officers had undergone a brief special training on jungle warfare before heading for the designated states and places of postings.

"The officers will be fully under the command, control and disposal of the respective state governments and work as the ASPs of that state," the officer said.

The dispatching of the paramilitary officers to the states also bears significance in view of the fact that the Centre has already deployed around 60,000 central paramilitary personnel in all Naxal-affected states and these officers would help them coordinate at the grass-root level.