number of places, including one outside a
CRPF camp in Srinagar.
After September 21, dozens of SPOs
have posted their resignations on social
media and in letters addressed to local
mosque committees. While state DGP
Dilbagh Singh sought to dismiss the re-
ports as “motivated rumour-mongering”,
pointing out that “they (militants) have
tried this kind of propaganda in the past
too”, resignations by individual policemen
continue to show up on social media.
In Kulgam, Rafiqa Akhtar, a woman
SPOwho’sbeenontheforcefor15years,
was among the first to post a video of her
decision to quit on September 23. Several
others, including 22-year-old Rameez
Raja, posted at the police grievance
redressalunitwithnoroleinanti-insur-
gency operations, followed suit. That said,
there is speculation that the cop resigna-
tions could be tactical, quite like the pan-
chayat members who ‘quit’ in response
to a similar militant threat after the 2011
elections. Most of them quietly contin-
ued to work till the end of their term in
June 2016. It has nonetheless forced the
state administration to suspend internet
services in Pulwama and Shopian.
A senior J&K police officer concedes
the increased attacks are affecting mo-
rale. As many as 37 policemen have been
killed since January this year. A con-
cerned state government is now planning
tobuildguesthousesforfamilieswithin
district police lines as well as residential
clustersin‘safer’zones.Meanwhile,SPO
salaries are being hiked from the current
Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000 in order to make
officers contemplating resignation think
twice. As an immediate measure, police
personnel belonging to south Kashmir
have been advised against home visits.
STATES
ASENIORJ&KPOLICE
OFFICER CONCEDES
THAT THE ATTACKS
ARE AFFECTING
FORCE MORALE
TRIPURAThis March, 47-year-old BIPLAB
DEB led the BJP to a historic vic-
tory over the CPI(M), bringing
to an end the 25-year-long rule
of the Left in Tripura. However,
the last six months have not been
easy for the chief minister, who
frequently made headlines for
the wrong reasons, with his opin-
ions on the internet’s origin in the
Mahabharata or Diana Hayden’s
insufficiently Indian beauty.
Unperturbed, the CM says his pri-
ority is to “transform Tripura”. In
an exclusive interview with INDIA
TODA Group Editorial Director
RAJ CHENGAPPA and Senior
Associate Editor KAUSHIK DEKA,
the Tripura CM shares his vision
and blueprint for development of
the northeastern state. Excerpts:Q. What are your priorities for
the state’s development?
My focus is on agriculture, horti-
culture, animal husbandry, forests,
fisheries and tourism. The Food
Corporation of India will now pro-
cure rice from Tripura. This did
not happen earlier. The next goal
is to produce an additional 20,
metric tonnes of fish to meet the
requirement of the state and stopthe outflow of Rs 1,600 crore. We
are providing loans for setting up
smokehouses, which will improve
the quality of rubber produced in
the state. This will earn the state
an additional Rs 65 crore. We are
also promoting spiritual tourism
and building the required infra-
structure for that.Q. You’ve said Tripura’s drug prob-
lem is bigger than Punjab’s.
In the past six months, we have
seized over 50,000 kg of cannabis
worth Rs 100 crore. Under Manik
Sarkar’s rule, Tripura became a big
corridor for production and sup-
ply of cannabis and banned cough
syrup Phensedyl. We busted sev-
eral illegal manufacturing units of
Phensedyl, seized lakhs of bottles
and arrested over 200 people.Q. What about industrialisation
and trade?
We have started single-window
clearance in the industrial sector.
The bridge over the Feni river, once
completed in December 2019, will
connect Tripura with Chittagong
seaport in Bangladesh, which is just
67 km away. This will make Tripura
the trade corridor of the Northeast.WAIT AND
WATCH
Tripura CM
Biplab Deb“In politics, nobody cedes
their space easily”
YASIR IQBAL16 INDIA TODAY OCTOBER 8, 2018