The BSF on Sunday formally handed over counter-insurgency operations in the city to the CRPF, leaving behind an impressive record, including the killing of Ghazi Baba, the alleged mastermind of the suicide attack on Parliament, and several other militants.Beginning today, eight CRPF battalions will take over the command in the downtown locality of Srinagar, a two-phase exercise that will go on till the year-end. Winding through the bylanes of the sprawling Zakura locality near Dal Lake, BSF troopers withdrew from the sector.‘‘The process is continuing and by the end of the month, five CRPF battalions will take over the charge in downtown Srinagar,’’ CRPF Inspector General V.B. Singh said.‘‘We will deploy our forces in Zakura, Soura and around the Regional Engineering College at Nageen. By the end of the year, eight battalions will be deployed in most parts of the downtown city,’’ Singh added.In all, 14 CRPF battalions would take over counter-insurgency operations. ‘‘We are helping the CRPF so that they get a grip on the situation in the city. Apart from giving them a list of the militants, we have handed them the names of our well-wishers and sources. Besides, we will always be there to help with inputs,’’ a BSF official said.The BSF won’t withdraw entirely though — its G-branch that networks intelligence with the crack teams that carry out operations will stay on to feed the CRPF.‘‘It’s just that our customers have changed. Earlier, we would feed it to BSF, now we would transmit the inputs to the CRPF,’’ said the official.
