Police and Army on Wednesday said that situation in Kashmir has improved during the past one year.
Addressing a joint press conference here Director General ofPolice (DGP) Dilbag Singh and General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagarbased 15 Corps Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, said, “Stone pelting incidentshave come down considerably, law and order situation has improved, localmilitant recruitment has been contained and the ongoing parliamentary electionsare being held peacefully.”
They attributed the improvement in the overall situation to the complete synergy being maintained by the security personnel of the all security agencies and the major anti-militancy operations carried out in 2018 that left 272 militants dead. “This year 69 militants were killed and 12 apprehended.
Post Pulwama attack, 41 militants were killed, of them 25 belonged to Jaish. Out of 25, 13 were foreigners falling in A+ category. We have targeted Jaish leadership and today situation is like nobody is ready to take over the Jaish. We will continue to take on Jaish cadre despite efforts of Pakistan to resurrect the outfit,” the GOC said.
About Lashkar-e-Toiba, the GOC said that after Hajin(Bandipora) encounter in which 13-year-old boy was also killed, “many questionswere raised on the militancy in Kashmir. Was (Hajin ) encounter Jihad orJihalat. This question is being asked by everyone,” he added.
He said recruitment of local boys into militancy has gonedown. “In the last few months, some surrenders have taken place silently. Weassure the boys willing to surrender, complete security and safety,” the GOCDhillon said.
He also made a fresh appeal to the youth not to come closerto the encounter sites during or post gunfight.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief Dilbag Singh said hatthat year 2018 has been generally a “very successful year” as far as handlinglaw and order situation and militancy are concerned. “We saw many positivetrends in 2018 which are very satisfying for me.”
He said local militant recruitment has dipped down, which isa good sign. “In 2018, 272 militants were killed and a large number ofmilitants were apprehended. A large number of youth who were somehow motivatedto join militant ranks were prevented by the security forces to tread on thewrong path,” the DGP said.
He said, “We admire and appreciate people, especially youthfor desisting from creating a law and order situation. We did face some law andorder situation during encounters (last year), but that too has come down nowto a large extent.”
The DGP Singh said elections were being held in a peacefulmanner and that three phases are already over. “There were minor incidents oflaw and order but by and large polling remained peaceful. We hope thatremaining two phases will also pass of peacefully,” he added.
Replying to a query about the highway ban, the GOC Dhillonsaid restrictions were put in place to facilitate the movement of securityforces coming for poll duty and also to regular movement of army and othersecurity forces. “It is a temporary measure. Some restrictions have alreadybeen lifted. There are no restrictions on Wednesday. Even on convoy day, peoplein need of emergency travel are being allowed,” the GOC said.
The DGP Singh said: “Once the elections in south Kashmir areover, relaxation may follow.”
To a query whether anti-militancy operations were put onhold, the DGP said that it may be a coincidence that there is a lesser contactwith the militants and security forces. “Our operations are on but of courseour primary focus is on polls. The only thing is that there is lesserengagement with the militants,” the DGP Singh said.
About the number of militants, foreigners as well as localmilitants active in Kashmir at present, the GOC and the DGP refused to divulgethe figures. “Though we have the details but it isn’t feasible to share theexact number.”
Asked whether it was justified to claim polls were beingheld peacefully as a class 7 student was killed at Handwara in Kupwara on April11, the GOC Dhillon said that the incident had happened after the polling wasover. “A mob had attacked the security forces after the polling had ended. Sothere is no connect between the two.”