Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Aug 30: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Range, Munir Ahmad Khan, today said the local militants have gone into hiding in upper reaches after ‘Operation All-Out’ was launched and they have given space to their foreign counterparts.
The IGP denied that the security forces have lost grip on counter-insurgency operations. “There is no loose grip in our operations. The successes which the security forces got in which top commanders of Lashker or HM were eliminated, the militants have went into hiding and are trying to look for other ways to survive,” he said.
Khan said the militants have gone into hiding and they have reports that they have gone to higher reaches. “They used to freely roam in buildup areas that has now stopped,” he said, adding that the local militants have “now given space to foreign militants whether of Jaish-e-Mohammad or any other”.
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The IGP said that one or two groups of JeM are still operating in South Kashmir and in the fringes of Srinagar district, even after the killing of three in Pulwama encounter that left eight security personnel dead.
Khan said that after the District Police Lines (DPL) Pulwama attack, security forces have to remain careful and increase the level of alertness. “As the human body goes into slumber, so we, regularly, have to tell our jawans and officers to remain alert and it is a part of our drill,” he said.
In reply to a question pertaining to abandoning of use of mobile phones by militants, the IGP said even if that is the case, the security forces will still be able to kill them. “We are facing militancy since 1990. There was a phase when there were no mobiles, still militants were neutralised. Now, there is a phase that mobiles are there and militants are getting neutralised. The work does not stop. If one thing closes, another opens up and we are working on it,” he said.
IGP Khan said as a head of Kashmir Zone police, “it is my duty to caution my officers and jawans to take care of their security” in the wake of cop killings. “Security does not mean only to provide bullet-proof vests or vehicles, but it also means that I alert them from time to time. To tell them to take care and not go to those places where they can be soft targets, is a way of alertness,” he added.
In the meantime, security forces have announced cash reward of Rs 5 and Rs 3 lakh each for the information on six wanted militants of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) including Mussavir Hasssan Wani of Dalypora, Pulwama, Majid Manzoor Dar of Talangam Pulwama, Irfan Ahmad Bhat of Bandzoo, Pulwama, Waseem Ahmad Wani of Tikan Pulwama, Firdous Ahmad Mir of Mastkun, Pulwama and Zahoor Ahmad Thokar of Sirnoo, Pulwama.
The posters including pictures of these militants were pasted in several areas of Pulwama by security forces in which cash reward was announced for information that will lead to arrest or killing of these militants.
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