Jammu and Kashmir police chief SP Vaid was transferred from his post on Thursday and posted as a transport commissioner in the same state. Dilbagh Singh, a 1987 batch IPS officer, will take charge as the new DGP. He will also hold the post of DG (Prisons). According to media reports, there was a dissatisfaction in the central government over the handling of recent cases of kidnappings.
Last week, terrorists had kidnapped the family members of the policemen and they were released after the police released around a dozen family members of terrorists, including the father of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo. Union Home Ministry was unhappy as this showed the vulnerability of the state authorities.
The Central government has never negotiated with the terrorists in almost decades and the last time any exchange for prisoners took place was in 1999 when Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked to secure the release of terrorists such as Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Sheikh were sent back to Pakistan in exchange of the kidnapped passengers of Indian Airlines flight 814.