Srinagar: General officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar based 15 Corps Lieutenant General D P Pandey said that the army is working on a two-pronged strategy in Kashmir including preventing local militant recruitment and squeezing the OGW and social media network used for radicalization of youth.

He, however, said that anyone who picks up arms will be dealt strictly and local militants will be offered surrender if they refuse, they will be killed.

GoC 15 corps was addressing his maiden presser at Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar along with IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar and GoC Victor Force Rashim Bali about two encounters Shopian and Tral, Pulwama in which seven militants including the Ansar Gazwatul Hind (AGH) chief were killed.

The GoC 15 Corps said that the army is working on a two-pronged strategy which entails preventing the local militant recruitment and to block the OGW and social media network which is used for radicalization of youth in the Valley.

“This is my first media interaction and I can feel that there is a new change and new energy. One and all want J&K to be a peaceful region. While the rest of Kashmir is peaceful, south Kashmir and some parts of central Kashmir are witnessing violence,”GoC Pandey said. “Our efforts are on to address the situation. We need cooperation from the general public. Our youth are being radicalized and people must help us in stopping the trend.”

He asserted that some parents whose youth have joined militancy have approached the army and requested it to “get their children back and rehabilitate them even if they need to be lodged in jails.”

Asked whether local militancy graph was high this year, the GoC said that the local militant recruitment is very less this year so far compared to previous years

KR Desk