By IANS,
Kolkata : Counter Insurgency Force (CIF) personnel were Friday removed from an Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp in West Bengal to ease tensions between their warring personnel.
The CIF men were also sent on 15-day leave.
The decision comes after 132 CIF men stationed at the EFR premises in Salua in West Midnapore refused to return to their barracks or take part in any counter insurgency operation unless they were shifted to another place.
The two forces, stationed on the same campus, have been on a collision course after families of EFR personnel complained of sexual harassment by the CIF troopers.
While 20 troopers were injured Feb 20 when they clashed for the first time, eight policemen, including officer Dipak Sarkar, sustained injuries following another battle between the two forces Thursday.
More than 100 CIF jawans were forced to take refuge in a nearby air force installation after they were chased by armed EFR personnel and their family members.
“It would be suicidal to keep both the forces together after what happened Thursday. Moreover the CIF men need to come out of the trauma they have gone through,” said a senior police officer.
Salua has been the headquarters of the EFR for more than seven decades. A large number of retired personnel have settled down in the adjoining areas while the CIF barrack was set up in 2010.
The EFR works under the state police while the CIF was raised by the state government on the lines of Greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh to combat Maoists.