CRPF personnel patrol in front of closed market in Srinagar on Sunday. (ANI)

SRINAGAR: Gautam K (name changed), a 35-year-old from Chennai, gingerly approached a TV crew at Srinagar ’s Lal Chowk on Sunday with a request to turn the camera towards him for a few seconds. “If my family back home sees me on TV, they will feel reassured that I am fine,” he pleaded, choking on his words.

Paramilitary soldiers who look stone-pelting protesters in the eye are, perhaps, not expected to cry. But Gautam, who like many in the Valley hasn’t been able to speak to his family even once in 20 days, had his defences broken by the thought of his six-year-old daughter being unwell. “When I was asked to join my unit in J&K at short notice earlier this month, my daughter was running a high fever. I am so worried for her.”

In the communication black hole that the Valley has become, the often long and painful wait to hear a loved one’s voice is telling on security personnel as much as it is on civilians caught in the lockdown.

“Sir, is your mobile phone working?” a CRPF constable asked this reporter outside an office here. “I wish to make one call to my family in Uttarakhand. My wife is pregnant, and I haven’t heard from her since I came here in July,” he said.

A colleague of his alleged that an officer at Srinagar’s Ram Munshi Bagh police station told him off when he asked if he could use the “official landline”. “The officer refused to allow me to use it, saying this facility was meant only for civilians,” he said.

For those among the 80,000 additional CRPF, CISF and BSF personnel, the strain of being cut off from home has begun to pose a motivational challenge, sources said.

CRPF inspector general Ravideep Sahai told TOI that handsets had been provided to company commanders to ensure their team members are able to call home. “However, if there are still complaints, I will personally look into it,” he said.

A 33-year-old CRPF assistant commandant deployed in Anantnag allegedly committed suicide on Friday. Officials contested allegations on social media that work stress and poor living conditions drove M Arvind of the 40th Battalion to suicide.

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