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Kashmir : Infiltration down, possibility of troop reduction, says Army Chief |
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The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. J.J. Singh has said that infiltration and number of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East have been brought down to minimum levels. Talking to media persons after handing over the baton of Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee to the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta at an official farewell in New Delhi on Friday, Sept. 28, he said, “In conflict-prone areas, where the Army has been deployed, there is very low level of violence marked by a return to normality. The people in these places are rejecting terrorism and violence and wish to lead peaceful and prosperous lives.”
“This has been our humble contribution to the challenge of terrorism. I think this has given us a feeling of satisfaction and pride. Infiltration has been contained to minimum levels and we are carrying out surgical operations based on accurate intel¬ligence. The support of the people in this respect is also worthy of mention. Moreover we have been able to do the operations with minimum collateral damage and casualties to ourselves.”
Gen. Singh said the Army’s philosophy of an iron fist in velvet glove was being studied by other militaries. During my tenure, the Army has been able to project a humane face in han¬dling every challenging situation in areas affected by terrorism.”
The Army chief felt the situation in the north-east and Jammu and Kashmir was not a purely military problem. There were political, social and economic aspects too. The government was addressing all these dimensions. “Once the State and Central governments feel we have fulfilled our mission, we would be happy to concentrate on our primary mission of securing the nation’s borders.”
Troops go berserk
Troops raided a police station to retrieve pilfered goods seized by cops in J & K’s northern town of Handwara, even as a CRPF jawan shot dead a boy in the southern village of Gaber¬pora.
Already under strain to ensure an incident free Ramzan, state police personnel were caught in a situation that security agencies, deployed in the state for maintaining peace, created. Police officials said that less than four hours after the cops seized a tractor carrying 48 barrels of kerosene near Magam in Handwara, 45 soldiers from 33-Rashtriya Rifles raided the Magam post, overran it, freed all those locked up, left six cops, including an ASI, in a pool of blood and decamped with the seized material.
Police officials said they would ensure that action is initiated against troops responsible for the incident. “Though a couple of such cases - Siachen uniform, eggs and diesel were detected by the police in Ladakh, this is the first time that the Army raided a police station, beat the cops and took away all the seized material and men,” said an official.
A Defence spokesman in Srinagar termed the entire incident as “mere misunderstanding.”
In south Kashmir on Wednesday, a petrol of the CRPF found a group of youth outside their homes soon after Iftar in Gaberpora village. They were asked to go home and when they resisted, saying they were smoking after breaking their fast, which is routine, en argument ensued leading to CRPF firing, in which a boy was killed.
Entire South Kashmir protested against the murder. Under intense pressure, police finally rounded up Gajendar Kumar whom locals identified as the killer of the young boy.
Nine militants killed in Jammu
In a major setback to militant outfits active in the state, security forces on Sept. 26 gunned down nine militants in four different encounters in the Jammu region. One Army officer was injured in the encounter.
“The slain militants have been identified as Mohammed Shafi, alias Delta one, and Iqbal, alias Umar Gazi. Both had their affiliation with the Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit,” said senior superintendent of police, Doda, Manohar Singh. “Mohammed Shafi was the divisional commander and was active since 1995, whereas Iqbal was district commander and was active since 2000.”
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