Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 27: Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh today said that COVID has affected the anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir to some extent as many policemen and security forces personnel have tested positive for the virus while there is a huge deployment of policemen on roads to enforce lock-down.
Speaking to reporters at Kulgam after touring South Kashmir areas to review the security measures, the DGP said that during the review, special focus was laid on enhancing the anti-militancy operations in South Kashmir.
“COVID pandemic has affected anti-militancy operations to some extent. But it is not like we are leaving areas free for militants to roam around. Many policemen and security forces personnel have tested positive for the virus,” the DGP said.
Singh said that despite the fact that police is fighting COVID pandemic and enforcing lockdown through its deployments on roads and streets across the Valley, “specific lead based anti-militancy operations” are being conducted in South Kashmir and other parts of Kashmir.
On militant recruitment, the DGP said that police never wants boys to join militancy. “Police have been working hard to prevent misguided youth to return. In Kulgam, a group of youth who were about to join militancy were brought back and united with their families. Similarly, in other districts of South Kashmir, many such groups were prevented from treading a wrong path”, he said.
However, the DGP said that militant outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Badr are getting oxygen from across the LoC to lure new boys into the militancy.
“Unfortunately, the recruitment is still taking place, but the graph is very less compared to previous years. Police have been doing a lot on this front to plug it completely and I believe more steps need to be taken to stop it fully”, he added.
The DGP said that police have been able to persuade many youth even during live encounters to surrender. “Young boys get ready to surrender but older ones aren’t ready. Efforts are on from our end to reach out to misguided youth to help them come back,” he added.
About the total number of militants active in South Kashmir, DGP Singh said that since the number of militants keeps on fluctuating with the time, at present there are about 100 odd militants active in Southern districts of Kashmir.
He said the role of police force is getting double with each passing year as new offices are being set up, new posts being created and new equipment being installed at police stations. “DPLs are being enhanced on modern lies and staff too being equipped with latest gadgets. Police force will soon get latest weaponry as well,” he said.
Singh during his visit lauded the police personnel for accepting and tackling multiple challenges. He said that the enthusiasm of working with devotion and dedication into the right direction are necessary for peace and prosperity. He also emphasised that it should be continued with more energy in future also.
The DGP appreciated the efforts of the police personnel in maintaining peace and order in the district along with other security forces and emphasised that to maintain the peaceful environment, security is to be strengthened at all levels with joint efforts of all security forces and to ensure that elements inimical to peace are not given any chance to disturb peace and also applauded the role played by all ranks of the department to contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the efforts put in to work tirelessly in dealing all challenges despite the threat posed by the COVID-19 to humanity.
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