The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a special fund of over ₹4.54 crore for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to procure essential winter clothing and equipment for its troops stationed in Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs) in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir. This initiative aims to bolster counter-terrorism efforts by equipping approximately 600 CRPF personnel with specialized gear, including DRDO-developed 'Himsuraksha' extreme cold weather clothing, gaiters, sleeping bags, and snow boots. These bases, often located above 6,000 feet, are critical for launching operations against terrorists who utilize the challenging terrain for shelter. The funding ensures that CRPF commandos are better prepared for long-duration patrols, survival, and combat in the harsh winter conditions, a necessity highlighted by recent security challenges, including the April 2025 Pahalgam attack.

The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a special fund of over ₹4.54 crore for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to procure essential winter clothing and equipment for its troops stationed in Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs) in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir. This initiative aims to bolster counter-terrorism efforts by equipping approximately 600 CRPF personnel with specialized gear, including DRDO-developed 'Himsuraksha' extreme cold weather clothing, gaiters, sleeping bags, and snow boots. These bases, often located above 6,000 feet, are critical for launching operations against terrorists who utilize the challenging terrain for shelter. The funding ensures that CRPF commandos are better prepared for long-duration patrols, survival, and combat in the harsh winter conditions, a necessity highlighted by recent security challenges, including the April 2025 Pahalgam attack.

The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a special fund of over ₹4.54 crore for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to procure essential winter clothing and equipment for its troops stationed in Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs) in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir. This initiative aims to bolster counter-terrorism efforts by equipping approximately 600 CRPF personnel with specialized gear, including DRDO-developed 'Himsuraksha' extreme cold weather clothing, gaiters, sleeping bags, and snow boots. These bases, often located above 6,000 feet, are critical for launching operations against terrorists who utilize the challenging terrain for shelter. The funding ensures that CRPF commandos are better prepared for long-duration patrols, survival, and combat in the harsh winter conditions, a necessity highlighted by recent security challenges, including the April 2025 Pahalgam attack.

The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned a special winter clothing and equipment fund for Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops operating from Temporary Operating Bases (TOBs). These bases were established to counter terrorists in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir following the April 2025 Pahalgam attack.

A sum of over ₹4.54 crore has been granted to the CRPF in order to procure gaiters, sleeping bags, snow boots, and goggles. The personnel will also receive extreme cold weather clothing developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the 'Himsuraksha' brand, insulating mats, rucksacks, gloves, tents, thermal insoles, blankets, and rescue bags.

These items will last for about two years, and the funds can be revised upwards for fresh procurement.

As many as 600 CRPF troops attached to the Temporary Operating Bases will benefit from the funding.

While most of these items were already provided to the TOB troops starting last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July granted "complete authorisation" to a CRPF proposal for procuring these items so that the troops can be better equipped for long-duration reconnaissance patrols, survival, and combat against terrorists in the higher reaches, news agency PTI reported.

The TOBs, established above an altitude of 6,000 feet, house CRPF commandos for launching search and assault operations where terrorists take cover in 'dhoks' (mud and stone huts).

It has been found that terrorists used the snow-bound and arduous hilly terrain of Jammu and Kashmir to hide before or after perpetrating violence in the plains. The first such rock-and-mortar base was created by the CRPF in July 2025, and as per the latest data, the force has erected 55 TOBs across both the Jammu and Kashmir regions of the Union Territory. Each TOB holds a team of about 15 to 25 armed troops with basic facilities for rest and recuperation.

One such TOB of the CRPF was used as a operational base by security forces to eliminate three terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack in July 2025. This mission was designated 'Operation Mahadev'.

'Operation Mahadev' began on May 22, 2025, as part of a security plan drawn up a day after the April 22 attack in the scenic Baisaran valley of Pahalgam, where 26 people — mostly tourists — were killed by terrorists who had taken shelter in higher elevations.

While the proposal to create TOBs for CRPF commandos, similar to the Indian Army, had been in development since 2022–23, they were made operational following the April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, official sources said.

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