‘Threats meant to keep fear factor alive’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 31: Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh today hinted that action could be taken against Syed Sallahuddin, the Pakistan-based supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group, and said dossiers have been prepared of almost all the local militants operating from across the border.
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He dismissed People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks that hundreds of youngsters are languishing in jails as draconian anti-terror laws, such as the UAPA, are slapped ruthlessly in Kashmir on “flimsy and trivial grounds”, saying it is a “personal perception” and adding that “we are open to any kind of scrutiny”.
“The day is not far away,” the DGP said at the year-end press conference here in response to a question on whether police are planning to take action against Sallahuddin, India’s most wanted terrorist, similar to the demolition of the house of Ashiq Nengroo, the Pakistan-based commander of terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), and an extended portion of the house of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Ghulam Nabi Khan alias “Amir Khan” in south Kashmir.
“Many of them were earlier sitting in Pakistan and carrying on terrorist activities and were not brought into the ambit of certain legal provisions…. Now, dossiers have been prepared against most of them and they have already been notified as individual terrorists,” the police chief said, adding, “Further action as per law will follow against them.”
Issuing of threats by militants to minority employees and others are meant to keep “fear-factor” in Jammu and Kashmir alive, Dilbag said asserting that “we should not be cowed down by such acts as strict action is being taken against the perpetrators”.
The DGP’s remarks came at a time when Kashmiri Pandit migrant employees and Jammu-based Reserved Category employees are camping in Jammu demanding their relocation outside the valley after fleeing Kashmir in May following targeted killings of two of their colleagues – Rahul Bhat and Rajni Balla.
TRF has issued five hit-lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees in the recent past and had warned of attacks against them.
“The terror threats against minorities or sometimes police or security forces (is routine). The one who works and who is on the ground faces this type of thing in such a situation. We do not stop walking on the roads in view of apprehension of accidents. If someone threatens us to sit at home, can we stop coming out? We have to take action against them and we are doing that and we will continue our actions against them more strictly,” Singh said.
He was responding to a question about the threats issued by TRF and said the blood-thirsty terror groups who have been bleeding Kashmiris for the past over three decades at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI and terrorist handlers sitting across the border are trying to keep the terrorism alive.
“The Resistance Front (TRF) or Kashmir Fight are both mouthpieces of Pakistan which are being run from across the border. TRF is like an umbrella to take credit for terror actions which are mostly being done either by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). They do not want to own their actions for some reason,” the police chief said.
Barring one, he said most of the modules involved in selective and targeted killings have been busted. “We will not let them succeed in their conspiracy and will bring the culprits to book.”
“Threats are meant to keep the fear factor alive. Sometimes they are able to target a minority community member or a non-local labourer on the pretext that they are being settled (in Kashmir) or some other narrative.
“J&K residents have become a settler for them and it is decided by those sitting in Pakistan. This wrong, motivated and mischievous narration is aimed at justifying such type of actions against minorities and poor labourers who are there for a living,” he said.
He said the analysis of the attacks on the labourers revealed that all of them were living either in one-room rented accommodation or in groups at sheds.
Giving credit for the success against terrorism, he said the people are with them and are desirous of a peaceful atmosphere.
“People are the biggest beneficiaries of peace. Every parent wants his children to grow in a peaceful atmosphere and so every businessman also wants his business to run smoothly,” he said, expressing satisfaction that there is no terrorist or separatist sponsored strike in the valley this year.
“The children are studying and the business is also running without any break. There used to be a time when even marriages had to be cancelled in the past due to law and order situations. Nothing like that happens anymore, which is indicative of peace returning to the valley,” the officer said.
On Wednesday’s encounter in Sidhra bypass in Jammu that left four militants, travelling to Kashmir in a truck, dead, the DGP said investigation in the case is going on and some important clues have been found in the case.
“We are working on the clues and saying anything right now will hamper the investigation,” he said, adding as presumed earlier, the group is believed to have infiltrated from Pakistan and none of those killed were local terrorists.
“Most probably all those killed in the encounter were from across the border,” he said.
On recovery of the M4 rifle from the slain militants, he said such weapons were also recovered in the past but there is no indication suggesting smuggling of weapons left behind by the US in Afghanistan.
In response to another question, he said the security agencies are fully prepared for the upcoming Republic Day to ensure peaceful functions across the Union Territory.
He said though he is not a film buff, he would like to see a movie on the sacrifice of J&K police in the fight against terrorism.
Singh said holding of G20 meeting in J&K is a proud moment for the people of the UT and “adequate security will be provided to the event.
He said in order to put an end to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, it is vital to take strict action against the terror ecosystem.
“We have booked 649 terror supporters under the Public Safety Act (PSA) this year, besides seizing 50 vehicles used to transport terrorists and weapons. Twenty-eight houses and other buildings used to provide shelter to terrorists were also sealed,” the DGP said.
He said the anti-terror Special Investigation Agency is now more than a year old and has done a tremendous job in probing criminal activities, especially the cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
“We have augmented crime-dealing capabilities…. After finding that the UAPA cases have increased with 1,350 still under investigation, we have set up Special Investigation Units (SIUs) at the district level in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions to speed up the probe in UAPA cases,” he said.
On the use of bulldozers to demolish properties linked to terrorists, Singh said, “Bulldozers were used for selective action. Where it is important, we will only use the machines there.”
Asked about Mufti’s letter to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and her remarks against the alleged misuse of the UAPA, the DGP said, “It must be her personal perception. Every act of police, including the registration and investigation of any case, falls under the scrutiny of the courts. We are open to any kind of scrutiny.”
Dilbag said 56 Pakistani nationals were among 186 terrorists killed in the Union territory in 2022 and sounded a note of caution over online terrorism propagated by the neighbouring country, including the spread of fake news.
He said that a total of 186 terrorists were killed and 159 arrested in 2022 which proved to be the “most successful” in recent years. He added that security agencies were moving in the right direction to achieve “zero terror” activities in J-K.
Singh also said that effective policing has helped in neutralising as many as 146 terror modules that had been tasked to carry out selective and targeted killings, besides grenade or Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks.
He said this year, around 100 youngsters joined the terror ranks in the Union territory, the lowest in many years, of which 63 were killed in encounters and 17 more arrested.
“The remaining are still at large, and efforts were on to nab or deradicalise them,” Singh added.
Dilbag said the casualties suffered by police and the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces also recorded a dip in 2022, with 14 policemen and 17 CAPF personnel losing their lives in terror attacks.
He said civilian casualties also came down during the year and just 24 minor law and order incidents were reported. Efforts are on to ensure that this number drops to zero, he added.
The police chief said conspiracies to disturb peace are continuing from across the border but “we have been successful in ensuring that the local youth are not misled into the path of violence”.
He said police and other security agencies made strenuous efforts to bring back misguided youngsters and reunite them with their families.
Withholding the number of such youngsters who were brought back to the mainstream, Singh said they were motivated by Pakistan and its sponsored elements, but they were de-radicalised. This is a major achievement for the forces this year, he said.
“Our mission is to move towards achieving zero terror activities and for that, we have to dismantle the terror ecosystem, which is keeping the terrorism alive, and we are doing that,” Singh added.
Highlighting the sporting activities taking place, the police chief expressed satisfaction over the start of night cricket tournaments in Bandipora, Ganderbal and Srinagar, including the downtown city.
“Such activities (night cricket) were not seen earlier. It happened because the trust and faith of the people in the official machinery has increased manifold in the recent years….I am sure terrorism will be finished soon,” Singh said.
He said new trends have been observed in the past one year wherein Pakistan-based handlers and agencies set up small groups of modules and assigned them the task of selective and targeted killings and hurling of grenades.
“We have busted 146 such modules consisting of four to five members. Barring one such module, the rest were neutralised,” Singh added.
The DGP said security forces recovered 188 AK assault rifles, 275 pistols, 354 grenades, and 61 Improvised Explosive Devices, some of which were ready-to-use and dropped by drones from across the International Border to trigger explosions at public places in Jammu city and elsewhere.
“These IEDs were recovered before they reached their delivery point. Unfortunately, incidents of explosions at a vegetable market and two empty buses occurred in Udhampur district, but those behind the incidents were arrested,” he said.
Pakistani agencies are trying to smuggle narcotic substances into Jammu and Kashmir in large quantities and the police has taken various counter measures to deal with the challenge, Dilbag said.
He said 1,693 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 173 peddlers were taken into preventive custody under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and 91 others were detained under prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act during the year 2022.
“Pakistani agencies are trying to smuggle drugs into J-K in large quantities but we have taken numerous measures to counter the challenge. They are using smugglers, touts and even drones to push the narcotic substances into this side,” Singh said.
A total of 1,693 cases under NDPS were registered this year which is more than 130 compared to the last year, the Director General of Police said.
“A total of 212 kgs heroin, 383 kgs charas, 12 kgs brown sugar, 215 kgs ganja and 10,746 kgs poppy straw were seized, besides huge quantities of synthetic and other drugs in 2022.
“In addition, over Rs 60 lakh in cash was also seized. It is in addition to the cash seized in Udhampur which is under investigation of the anti-terror State Investigation Agency,” he said.
Over 1.91 crore cash was recovered from a car in Udhampur district in August.
As part of the strict action against drug peddling, Singh said, 176 traffickers were slapped with PSA this year compared to only 23 detained under the law last year.
In addition, 91 others were booked under the PITNDPS Act, he said.
The police chief said a total of 29,834 crime cases were registered in J-K this year, but the disposal of these cases has also increased manifold with the majority of the cases charge sheeted in the court of law.
Elaborating about crimes against women, he said 2,285 cases were registered across the UT. It is a matter of satisfaction that women police stations have been set up in all districts to deal with such types of cases, he added.
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