The Central Reserve Police Force will be strengthening the bullet-proof jackets of its personnel after an inquiry conducted by the force revealed that armour-piercing steel-coated bullets had been used by a militant who killed five soldiers and a police officer in an attack on June 12 in Anantnag district before being shot dead.
A rifle magazine recovered from the slain militant contained18 steel-coated bullets. A top CRPF official said on the condition of anonymitythat the use of steel-coated bullets by the militant has “some importantlessons” for the force.
“We are taking some immediate remedial measures thatwill be followed by long-term security. One of the important measures we willtake is to upgrade the bullet-proof jackets of our personnel. The layers ofbullet-proof vests might be modified so that steel-coated bullets don’t piercethem,” he said.
The long-term measures would include upgrade and improvementin helmets and jackets used by the deployed troops, he said.
An alert was recently sounded by various security agenciesand the state police following the internal probe by the CRPF into the killingof five of its soldiers and an officer of the state police in the attack.
The CRPF inquiry had also revealed that the Jaish-e-Muhammadoutfit, which carried out the Anantnag attack, had used steel-coated bullets in2017 but not in the attacks in 2018.
“While additional protective layers on bullet proofequipment used by the security forces is being put into practice, futureremedial measures would depend on how quickly the present bullet proofequipment is modified,” said a CRPF officer posted in south Kashmir.