Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Wednesday said that there has been sharp decline in recruitment of local youth in militant outfits. He claimed that 17 youth dropped guns and returned to their families in the first six months of this year.
In an exclusive interview to Greater Kashmir the DGP Singhsaid that “the situation in the Valley has improved and it will become muchbetter in coming days.” The DGP Singh said, “This year over 17 youth have givenup the arms. We are hopeful that moreyouth will shun the gun in the near future. A youth on Tuesday shunned the pathof violence and returned home to lead a normal life in southern Kashmir. It wasonly after joint efforts by the police and family that the youth gave upmilitancy and returned.”
Pertinently, senior Police and Army officers have time andagain appealed local youth, who have joined militant ranks, to shun theviolence and return to mainstream. They have assured them full support to starta new life.
Terming the youth as “our own boys,” DGP Singh said, “Weappeal all of them to return. Securityforces give ample opportunities to militants to surrender during encounters.”
About the anti-militancy operations, he said, “Most of theoperations are being carried out without any collateral damage. The securityforces do not want local people to suffer. All the operations are specificintelligence based. Now the people are whole heartedly supporting the securityforces in eradicating militancy.”
“There is a perfect synergy among the various securityforces in tackling militancy and maintaining law and order in the Valley.Police, Army and the CRPF are working shoulder-to-shoulder for many years atdifferent levels,” he said.
DGP Singh said that police-community partnership groups is aninitiative in which officers have been directed to convene meetings with”respectable” citizens to understand problems and grievances of the masses intheir areas.”This mechanism has proved to be very fruitful as issues pertainingto the police department are redressed on the spot,” the DGP said.