The Ministry of Defence has started the process of procuring around 550 robotics surveillance units with minimum 25 years of service life for counter-insurgency ops in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said on Wednesday.
A senior Indian Army officer told IANS that these robots should be capable of climbing stairs and negotiating obstacles apart from throwing grenades at terrorists in built-up areas. “These robots should be capable enough for water fording with minimum 20-cm depth,” the officer said.
During cordon-and-search-operations in the Valley, these robots will be the first line of defence, thus helping prevent casualties. “This would avoid casualty to our own troops during initial breach by terrorists,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, in occupied Kashmir, inhuman Indian military lockdown entered 104th day.
On Friday, besieged people of valley held forceful demonstrations in different areas, to show their resentment against the Indian occupation and division of Kashmir into two union territories by India.
As the Juma congregational prayers culminated, people took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Islamabad, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and other areas of the occupied territory, shouting high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.
Indian troops and police personnel used brute forces against the protesters at many places, in injuring several of them.
According to Kashmir Media Service, uneasy calm and uncertainty still prevail in the Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu and Ladakh regions as the residents continue to simmer with anger over stripping of special status of the territory and the subsequent inhuman and brutal actions by BJP-led Indian government.
Although some communications means, such as landline phones and postpaid mobile services, have partially been restored, the ban on internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile connections still continues.
