Police clearance must for protected persons for travelling outside State

Move to prevent weapon snatching, 752 PSOs withdrawn

SRINAGAR: In order to curb the rising incidents of weapon snatching, the Jammu and Kashmir police have restricted the protected persons from taking their Personal Security Officers (PSOs) with them outside state, unless they are permitted to do so by police, in written form even as it withdrew 752 PSOs from the ‘uncategorised’ and ‘influential’ persons during the Governor’s rule in the state.

In past one year or so, there has been an increase in weapon-snatching incidents from PSOs guarding politicians and other protected persons in Kashmir. According to official figures, 74 weapons including 17 AK-47 rifles, 23 SLRs and 14 INSAS guns were snatched by militants in various incidents during 2018 alone.

To prevent the dangerous rise of such incidents, the police has adopted a number of means recently, which even included carrying house-to-house survey and profiling families of government employees who are availing government flats in the vicinity of the protect persons.

In latest step, it has issued an advisory to the protected persons including politicians making it mandatory for them to get security clearance for travelling outside the state with their PSOs.
“We have done the profiling of all the protected persons and have issued a strict advisory for the politicians intending to travel or hold rallies outside the state," Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law & Order, and Security, Muneer Khan informed.

The ADGP said that the protected persons can’t take their PSOs along, if they want to travel outside the state unless permitted to do so by police.

He said that those found violating the advisory will face strict action.

Meanwhile, during the Governor’s rule, 752 PSOs attached with the ‘uncategorised’ and ‘influential’ persons were withdrawn by the police, Khan told The News Now.

“Security of those persons who were not categorized under security threat perception and were availing the facility of PSOs at the cost of the public exchequer has been withdrawn,” the ADGP informed.
The process of the withdrawal of PSOs was started on the basis of the CID’s report that some influential persons are availing the facility of the PSOs from different wings of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, including District Police and Armed wing.

The report was tabled in JK Home Department following which move was taken.