Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans deployed to counter ultra-left extremists and Jammu & Kashmir terrorists will now be armed with sophisticated AK-47 assault rifles instead of conventional INSAS guns. In a move that will give more teeth to the CRPF, the Union Home Ministry has accorded sanction for cent per cent replacement of INSAS rifles in Naxal strongholds and 50 per cent from J&K with AK-47 assault rifles (7.62 x 39 mm calibre).
The existing authorisation of 217 AK-47s in a battalion has been doubled to 435 for J&K. For the Naxal theatre, the authorisation for AK-47s has been enhanced from 217 to 869. The sanction for provision of AK-47 to a battalion of the elite Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) has been increased from 180 to 468 by phasing out the 108 INSAS and 360 SlRs per battalion. A CoBRA battalion will now have 648 AK-47s and 90 light Automatic Rifles/Fusil Automatic leger (semi-automatic rifles).
As many as 60 battalions (60,000 personnel) of the CRPF are deployed in J&K and 77 battalions are deployed in the Naxal theatre. Over 54,000 AK-47s will be procured for Naxal areas and more than 13,000 for J&K at an estimated cost of about Rs150 crore. The CRPF had sought replacement of INSAS due to lack of reliability, compromising the personal safety of the jawans deployed on the ground and consequently emboldening the Naxals and terrorists.
The paramilitary had sought replacement with sophisticated personal weapons like AK-47 or X-95. Before moving the proposal for replacement of INSAS, the CRPF had conducted an analysis of the firing pattern of weapons like INSAS, AK-47 and X-95 assault rifles. While INSAS had recorded interruptions to the tune of three per cent plus during a firing cycle, the same in the case of AK-47 and X-95 rifles was as low as 0.2 per cent, according to an analysis of the firing pattern of these weapons.
The move to enhance the authorization for provision of AK-47 rifles from the present 25 per cent to 100 per cent in the Naxal theatre comes in the backdrop of several problems which the forces faced while dealing with INSAS rifles. These include abrupt interruptions in firing cycle and difficulties in maintenance.
The decision will help the paramilitary men counter the Naxals effectively in the wake of reports that the General Secretary of banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Ganapathy has emphasized the need for capacity upgradation and strengthening underground structures of the outfit to fight “protracted war” against the State. Ganapathy had made the assertion in an article written on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the formation of the outfit in September last year
likewise, the move to double the sanction for provision of AK-47s from the current 25 per cent to 50 per cent of all the rifles in CRPF battalions in J&K will further boost the operational efficiency of the paramilitary in the State facing Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The CRPF’s proposal for phasing out INSAS and allotment of arms was reviewed by the Police Modernisation Division of the Union Home Ministry following which the Union Home Minister cleared the proposal.
Singh had directed his Ministry officials during a visit to 197 Battalion of the CRPF at Thalkobad in the Saranda area of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand on September 23 to look into the issue of allotment of arms to the paramilitary and take necessary action in keeping with their professional requirement. During an interaction with the Minister, the CRPF jawans of the 197 Battalion requested that the INSAS rifles be replaced with AK-47 or SlRs . The jawans had complained that INSAS require a lot of maintenance and are not sturdy in comparison to SlR (7.62 mm) or the AK-47. AK-47, a weapon with a cyclic rate of fire, can empty its entire magazine with 30 bullets in a few seconds and is at least ten times more potent that the INSAS, officials added.