Home Minister to attend CRPF's raising day event at Delhi headquarters on Monday

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the CRPF headquarters here on its 82nd raising day on Monday and address the personnel of the force posted across the country through a video link, officials said.

He will also pay homage to martyrs as a wreath will be placed on his behalf at Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch town, where the CRPF's first battalion was raised on July 27, 1939, as the Crown Representative's Police (CRP) under the British.

Its name was changed to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 1949 under the Indian Union by the country's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

An inspector general of the central sector of the force will lay the wreath at the martyrs memorial in Neemuch on behalf of the home minister, a senior officer said.

The headquarters of the country's largest paramilitary force is located at Lodhi Road here.

Mega raising day events are not being held this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing protocols, he said.

An event that involved marching contingents and display of combat skills in an open ground was scheduled on March 19 in Gurgaon but it was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.  Shah will also unveil three documentaries prepared by the CRPF depicting the role of its 'corona warriors', environment protectors and troops involved in internal security.

The 3.25 lakh personnel strong paramilitary is designated as the lead internal security force of the country with its three main combat theatres being counter-terrorist operations in Kashmir Valley, counter-insurgency in northeastern states and anti-Naxal operations in Left Wing Extremism affected states.