ITBP scales up LAC presence amid COVID-19 precautions

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has begun deployment of 40 fresh companies across various locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the wake of the standoff and violent clashes between the armies of the two countries.

The border guarding force is also moving its mechanised column assets like SUVs, all-terrain vehicles, snow scooters and trucks to forward locations in the midst of the projected increase in the number of troops at border units and fresh directives to undertake "additional" patrols.

All these units, with an operational strength of about 4,000 mountain-warfare trained troops, are being withdrawn from internal security duties from various parts of the country.

About 40 ITBP companies are being withdrawn and are being mobilised to various locations along the LAC in various sectors including Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, official sources said.

The frontier formations of the force have been asked to prepare quarantine facilities for these new units as they are coming from the mainland and their exposure to the coronavirus pandemic cannot be ignored.

A "good number" of officers who command companies and battalions are also being posted at the two newly operationalised commands of the force -- western headquartered at Chandigarh and eastern at Guwahati.

Apart from these 40, it is expected that 20 more such units could be withdrawn over a period of time so that an "optimum" presence of the force is maintained across 180 border posts and over 50 'staging camps' or temporary bases along the 3,488 km LAC that stretches from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh.

The ITBP will keep doing its job and in view of the ongoing tension especially after the violent clashes that led to 20 army troops laying down their lives in the line of duty, the force will assist the army as directed, the sources said.

The force was raised in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression and about 35 of its 60 battalions are deployed for border guarding along the LAC and its posts are located between 9,000 feet-18,700 feet in the western, middle and eastern sectors of this front.

(with inputs from PTI)