The recent and embarrassing exposure of a police-militant nexus that cost the life of a minister last year has left the J-K Police red-faced. Stung by the revelation, the J-K Police is now faced with the Herculean task of ‘‘security vetting’’ of its 6,000 men responsible for the protection of politicians, bureaucrats and their own officers, living under a constant threat of militant attacks.The need to step up the vigil on its own men against the possibility of an ‘‘internal subversion’’ is all the more important as unlike former CM Farooq Abdullah, CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is protected solely by the J-K Police with a little help from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Abdullah had a security ring of elite National Security Guards to protect him.‘‘Although security vetting of our own people on sensitive assignments is always carried out, this recent exposure has certainly thrown an additional challenge,’’ a senior police officer said. ‘‘It is a difficult task, simply because of the number of persons under protection. But we will make all efforts to prevent any internal subversion,’’ he said.The procedure of security vetting was simple: The antecedents of men deployed as PSOs or guards at sensitive places would be checked through the police’s own intelligence agency — Counter Intelligence Kashmir, Special Branch and would also be verified with the police from their home towns.These 6,000 men guarding the VIPs under high security threat are responsible for thwarting any militant attack on protected persons and their families. Thus scanning their antecedents and keeping a watch on their movements has become specially important. Sources reveal that the DSPs too have been asked to devise independent methods to raise the guard against any potential internal subversion in the police stations.The J-K Police top brass is not worried about the CM as a special unit of the police — Special Security Group (SSG) — carved out of the police force guards him and his family. ‘‘They (SSG) are among the best of our men in every sense,’’ a senior officer said. ‘‘We keep an eye on their activities during their duty hours and afterwards. They are under vigil when they go on leave. Even the antecedents of the people they meet are checked.’’
