In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Senior police and Army officers yesterday said that the last one-and-a-half years have been the most peaceful times in Jammu and Kashmir. They added that with every successful anti-militancy operation, security forces are moving on the path of peace.
Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said that the last full year and about five-and-a-half months of this year have been the most peaceful months in terms of handling law and order in general and the law and order situations around the anti-militancy operation sites in particular.
He was speaking at a joint press conference of senior officers of Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Srinagar yesterday. He said that the mission of the security forces is to stabilise peace in Jammu and Kashmir and they were continuously working towards attaining that. Mr Dilbag Singh further said that during the last about five-and-a-half months, over 100 terrorists have been neutralised, out of them over 50 were from the Hizbul Mujahideen, around 20 of them from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, 20 from the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the rest from smaller outfits like Al-Badr, Ansar Gazwatul Hind.
He added that about half-a-dozen successful operations have been conducted in Jammu region as well in which around a dozen terrorists have been neutralised. He said that Pir Panjal range is very well under control and Doda-Kishtwar is almost militancy-free with one terrorist remaining in Doda district and three in Kishtwar.
The DGP said the security forces have been successful only because people of the union territory were cooperating. He said that he would also like to compliment our youth if they are not joining terror ranks despite huge provocations by Pakistan and the agencies involved in the terror business.
He said the terrorist recruitment in the Valley has come down drastically. It has come down because of joint efforts of the civil society, parents, police officers on ground who maintain a very close liaison with people whose wards are likely to drift away. He said that they take many pre-emptive actions which are not brought to the fore deliberately just to ensure security of the youth concerned.
General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen B S Raju while speaking on the situation said that with every operation, the security forces are moving on the path of peace. He said there is a palpable difference that at the end of every operation, the next operation is taking place in much cleaner circumstances.
He added that he would also compliment people of Kashmir because they are believing in peace and it is this belief which is leading to the successful operations. He said he was sure that at the end of the next few months, they will be able to take this peace process forward and ensure that the normalcy is brought into the environment.
Lt Gen Raju said so far this year, the security forces have neutralised 102 terrorists and because of the professional manner in which these operations have been conducted, they have had just one or two civilian casualties. He said this means that the security forces have exercised extraordinary restraint and that is because they want to retain that connect with the people. He said of the 49 new terrorist recruits this year, 27 have been neutralised. But to stop this whole process, a large number of steps are being taken.
The Lt Gen said that they make fervent appeals to terrorists to surrender before the operations commences. He said that they have had limited success on this front but they have been very successful to prevent new recruitment as well as to identify those people who are on the cusp of recruitment. He further said that as far as the terrorist leadership is concerned, there is definitely a void taking place on a weekly basis. He added that there are places where the district commanders are changed because of the intensity of the operations that are being conducted.
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