Kashmir gets new paramilitary boss

NEW DELHI - The government Wednesday approved the appointment of a new head for the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been battling nearly four months of unrest that has seen 110 people killed, most of them in firing by security forces.

Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Anirudh Uppal will replace N.K. Tripathy as the special director general of CRPF in Jammu and Kashmir, an official statement said.

Uppal, a 1976 Himachal Pradesh IPS officer, has been appointed as special director general CRPF located at Jammu with effect from the date of his joining the post and till his superannuation on 30.9.2012 or until further orders, said the statement.

He is currently additional director general, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and has also served as inspector general with the National Security Guard (NSG) in Delhi.

Uppal’s posting comes amid relentless unrest in the Kashmir Valley triggered by separatists. The CRPF has drawn flak for allegedly failing to maintain restraint while controlling stone-throwing protesters. Over 100 civilians were shot dead by police and paramilitary troopers in clashes with protesters.

The order follows an approval of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The committee also approved the appointment of Tripathy, a 1974-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer, as the new director general of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in Delhi.

He replaces R.K. Mathur, who has been moved as the new director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad.

The post of the director at the academy fell vacant after K. Vijay Kumar was appointed the new director general of CRPF recently.