Ruling out any immediate withdrawal of CRPF from Jammu and Kashmir, state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday that before considering any such step, the state police has to be augmented in numbers, equipment and levels of training.

Abdullah, who had meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram here yesterday, said he had raised the issue of withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in a phased manner.

Reorganisation of security forces figured during his meetings, said Omar.

On the issue of withdrawal of CRPF from the state, he said the J and K police "is not immediately ready" to fill all the gaps. "The CRPF withdrawal has to be as per a plan" and simultaneously the state police will have to gear up to be at the forefront of the anti-militancy operations.

"We have over 70 battalions of the CRPF and the state police’s strength is not even one-third of it. Five battalions of the state police which includes India Reserve Police are undergoing training. So any rash decision in this aspect can be detrimental to state’s security, he said.

"A lot is required to be done in terms of augmenting the numbers of J and K police, upgrading their equipment and improving their levels of training," he said.