In a first, women CRPF personnel deployed for security duties on Independence Day in Srinagar

For the first time, women personnel of the CRPF were deployed for security duties on Independence Day in Lal Chowk and adjoining areas of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dressed in the camouflage combat uniform, the gun-toting women personnel of the paramilitary force were deployed in the Kothibagh police station area, mainly comprising the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and surrounding areas.

"We are from the 232 Battalion of CRPF. We have been in law and order as well as security-related duties before... So this is nothing new for us," a woman constable of the CRPF, deployed at Lambert Lane on Residency Road, told PTI.

She said they do not feel any lesser than their male colleagues as they all undergo the same training.

The women CRPF personnel had arrived in the Valley as part of security arrangements for the Amarnath yatra, which was cancelled at the last moment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, stringent security arrangements were made in and around Srinagar city for Independence Day celebrations in the wake of militant attack in Naugam area on Friday that left two police personnel dead and another injured.

Security forces had sealed all entry points leading towards Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, officials said.

Police and other security personnel were deployed on high rise buildings in many places of the city to keep a hawk-eye vigil on any suspicious movement, they said.

The perimeter area around security installations across the valley, including army camps, was sealed immediately after the Naugam attack on Friday.

The officials said all necessary steps were taken to prevent the militants from carrying out any further attacks aimed at disrupting the Independence Day celebrations.