Srinagar: Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar on Wednesday said that 118 militants were killed this year so far and 67 fresh recruits signed up with militants in the last six months.
“24 new recruits have already been killed in encounters and rest are active in the field,” he said.
Of the 118 militants killed this year, 57 belonged to Hizb, 24 from Lashkar-e-Toiba and 22 from Jaish. “Seven militants from ISJK were also killed while one slain was from Al-Badr,” Kumar said while sharing details with the media here.
According to him, top commanders including Hizb’s Riyaz Naikoo, Haider of Lashkar, Qari Yasir of Jaish, Burhan Koka of Ansaar Gazwatul Hind (AGH) and Fouji Bhai of Jaish were taken out. “We are also able to kill Hizb’s poster boy who was luring youth towards militancy and raising funds (Junaid Sehrai),” the IGP said.
He said local militant recruitment went down this year by 48 per cent which is a big success for the forces. “Among the 67 new recruits, 24 were killed, 12 arrested and rest are in the field,” he said, and urged parents to appeal their children to return back. We promise we will facilitate their return and won’t lodge any case against them,” Kumar said.
He said that a misconception was being created on social media that militants were short of weapons and were using pistols only which is not true. “In six months of this year, 118 militants were killed, we recovered 62 AK-47 riffle, 9 SLRs, one M-4 carbine, one Pika and only 44 pistols,” he said. “Small weapons are used by militants to carry out attacks in areas where there is a public rush.”
He said that 66 militant modules were busted and 66 weapons that include 21 Ak 47 riffles, 2 SLRs, one INSAS and 42 weapons. “In total from the slain militants and from the modules we busted, 200 weapons were recovered,” the IGP said, adding that 22 hard core militants were arrested including top Hizb commander Naveed, who was travelling along with the arrested Dysp Devender Singh.
The IGP said that 309 Over Ground Workers (OGWs) were arrested this year so far. “Fifteen civilians were killed in militancy related incidents,” he said.
Terming it as an “online militancy”, Kumar said that a lot of activities are being carried out on social media and so far 21 FIRs have been registered.
Kumar said police took a decision to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic by ensuring burial of slain local militants in Handwara and Baramulla areas of north Kashmir in presence of a few family members and a magistrate. “This was to prevent the spread of pandemic. People have hailed this effort of ours,” he said. “So far 79 bodies of local militants were buried in Handwara and Baramulla in presence of the magistrate and their family members.”
About the narco-trade, the IGP said this has a militancy link as funds are directly being given to the militants. “So far 304 cases have been registered and 500 people involved in this have been arrested. Heroin worth Rs 200 Crore have been seized and cash Rs 1.37 Crore seized as well. Besides huge quantity of poppy, fuki, and other drugs that include injections, tablets and syrups have been recovered,” he said. KNO

KR Desk