2020 witnessed killing of 88 militants, arrest of 240 OGW’s: DGP
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Monday said 88 militants, including a number of top commanders, were killed and 280 others arrested so far in the Union Territory this year.
Twenty-two of the militants, including six top commanders, were killed in the past two weeks, dealing a major blow to Pakistan and its agencies that are making all-out efforts to escalate violence by pushing a large numbers of militants from across the border, Singh said.
“Our strategy to counter-Pakistan is two-pronged, which is to stop infiltration along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) and tackle those who are active in the hinterland, besides stopping local youth from joining terror ranks. Thankfully, we are successful to a large extent in this endeavour,” he told reporters here.
Referring to the killing of nine Hizbul Mujahideen militants in two back-to-back operations in the past 24 hours in Shopian district of South Kashmir, the police chief said the effort of the security forces is to control and wipe out militancy from Jammu and Kashmir.
“The 22 militants, especially the six top commanders who were killed in nine major operations in the past two weeks, had created fear among people. They have a long list of crimes to their credit like killing of innocent civilians after dubbing them as informers and attacks on security forces, entering homes of people forcibly. Their killing will bring a big relief to people in south Kashmir,” he said.
Of these 22 militants, 18 were killed in South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian alone, while three infiltrators were killed along the LoC in Nowshera sector and one more in Kalakote sector of Rajouri district of Jammu region, the DGP said. Complimenting police and other security agencies for the successful anti-militancy operations, he said so far 88 militants were killed in 36 anti-militancy operations, while 40 militant associates who were either openly working for them or were part of their support system were arrested.
In addition, he said 240 over ground workers (OGW) of militants who were instigating people to create law and order problems, providing logistic support and creating hindrance in conduct of search operations and arranging hideouts for militants were also arrested and some of them were booked under the Public Safety Act.
The police chief said all the security forces operating in Jammu and Kashmir are working on “mission peace” to provide better atmosphere to people who have suffered a lot over the years due to Pakistan-sponsored militancy.
“We are working overtime for the establishment of peace,” he said and lauded the forces for scuttling an attempt by militants to carry out a Pulwama-type car bomb attack on the security forces last month.
A 50 kg improvised explosive device (IED) inside a car, jointly prepared by militant outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), was recovered in South Kashmir on May 28, thus a major Pulwama-type attack was averted, he said referring to the bombing of a CRPF convoy in February last year, which left over 40 CRPF personnel dead in Pulwama district.
“The IED was fabricated by (JeM militant) Fouji Bhai, who was also known among the militant ranks at Idris and Abdul Rehman, and was killed in one of the recent encounters. They attempted to strike with the car bomb on the highway twice but were unsuccessful both the times due to our alertness,” Singh said.
He said intelligence inputs revealed that JeM militants are planning more such attacks and accordingly “all the forces have been put on alert”.
In response to another question, he said the militants in the valley are facing shortage of weapons as those joining their ranks are being provided pistols and grenades instead of assault rifles but attempts are being made continuously to smuggle arms from across the border.
Recently, police recovered 22 weapons from the border district of Kupwara after they were smuggled through the Keran sector and were supposed to be distributed among Pakistan’s new terror outfit The Resistance Front (TRF) and other groups.
He said the Chenab Valley districts of Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar in Jammu region have almost been cleared of militancy once again.
“The Chenab Valley has reached a stage where it will be declared militancy free-shortly. No militant presence is in Ramban, one militant identified as Masood from Doda is active in Kashmir, while three others — Riyaz, Jehangir Saroori, Mudasir — are active in Kishtwar and are on the run. We are hopeful of clearing the area of militancy,” the DGP added.
He said Pakistan is trying to revive the Al-Badr group after floating “The Resistance Front” (TRF) in the recent past as part of efforts to hide its continuous support to terrorism in the Union Territory.
However, he said there was no information suggesting the Afghan Taliban joining militant activities in the valley.
“We do not have any information suggesting that they (Afghan Taliban) are coming to Jammu and Kashmir (to join militant activities). Basically, Pakistani militants are mostly coming to Jammu and Kashmir under the banner of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
“Pakistan is trying to revive the Al-Badr outfit, which was decimated long back, over the past couple of months after forming the TRF, which we call the ‘Terrorist Revival Front’. They are trying to give it (terrorism) an indigenous colour,” the police chief told reporters here.
He said most of the people joining the TRF are from the LeT and JeM.
He said youngsters were encouraged in positive activities and “we are happy with the public response as a very low number of youngsters joined militant ranks this year, but those who joined were killed…. The youngsters in the valley are wise enough not to fall prey to Pakistan’s machinations”.
Terming as “unfortunate” the continuing attempts by Pakistan to push armed infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir during the coronavirus pandemic, Singh said violence does not pay anywhere as it begets violence and love begets love. (PTI)
