Other than Gurez, frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir remains one of the famous routes of infiltration in Valley
by Hakeem Irfan
SRINAGAR: As operations against militants in the Valley continue, J&K police is worried about frequent infiltration attempts from across the Line of Control, with Gurez in north Kashmir, once again emerging as a favorite route to cross over this year.
Inspector General of police, Muneer Khan claimed that the infiltration attempts continue from different routes and in last two months around 15 ultras have managed to cross the LoC successfully. Khan claimed that the many more infiltration attempts would be made ahead of heavy snowfall and this would be crucial in shaping the course of militancy in Kashmir in 2018. Other than Gurez, frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir remains one of the famous routes of infiltration in Valley.
"Gurez is turning out to be a headache this time. They have probably discovered a new route to cross over and around 15 infiltrators have managed to cross over in last two months. This will continue till there is heavy snowfall," Khan told ET.
The LoC, Khan said is a very difficult terrain to guard and some times even a battalion is insufficient to keep a check on a small but very tricky crisscross of forests, canals and gorges.
According to Ministry of Home Affairs data, there were 271 infiltration attempts in 2016 during which 35 infiltrators were killed and 119 managed to cross over. In 2017, as per data available with different intelligence agencies around 90 ultras managed to cross over till now.
According to Khan, in 2017 till now, 178 militants were killed, which is highest in a decade and the operations continue unabated. And around 66 government force personnel including police, army and paramilitary forces were killed this year till now.
As the winter is setting in, militants, a senior police official said, are forced to come down from their hideouts in dense forests and orchards to residential areas, which helps the informers to track their movement easily. And thus there could be more encounters.
"The operations will continue relentlessly till the time it is needed," commander of south Kashmir based 2 sector RR Sachin Malik, told reporters here. However, the government forces have also reiterated their appeal for local militants to surrender and assured them of help for their rehabilitation to join mainstream.
The call for surrender was made after government forces arrested three militants during ongoing encounter and search operation in Kund area of Qazigund in north Kashmir. They are looking for two more militants in the area and the operation is going on for five days now.
One of the militants, Shams ul Wiqar, who managed to flee from the encounter site and cross at least two ridges with another militant and boarded a sumo was nabbed by a surprise check post party on a roadside. His associate managed to flee from the spot and the duo didn't open the fire. Another militant Atta Muhammad was injured during the encounter and was taken to hospital by the government forces, where he is recuperating. The third militant identified as Bilal Sheikh was also arrested near the encounter site.
"Despite the fact that they killed one of the our man from Sikh regiment during the encounter, our forces didn't kill these militants and arrested them. One of them was even taken to hospital otherwise he would have succumbed at the spot. And that was not a problem for us as it was an encounter. We are very sincere. This is our sincere endeavor to help these misguided youth and bring them back to mainstream," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Muneer Khan, said.
According to police, six Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba had gathered at Kund and on a specific information government forces launched operation in the area and managed to kill one militant and arrest three others.
"Government is very keen to have a comprehensive new surrender policy which will be effective. We have been asked for suggestion and we are compiling that. This is not only about militants who come from across the LoC, but also for militants, who are here and want to join back. We will forward our recommendations and we will soon have a surrender policy," said Khan.
Inspector General of CRPF, Zulfikar Hassan also stated that the forces are keen to rehabilitate all the local militants, if they surrender. "We want to go ahead and request all local militants to come back to mainstream and all the forces are ready to help them in rehabilitation," said Khan.
According to Khan, police continues its efforts to counsel youth at many levels to not join militancy. "Rather than orthodox interrogation we will ask Shams about driving force and other issues about reasons to join militancy," said Khan.
Earlier, this month, 20-year-old Majid Irshad Khan, a promising footballer from Anantnag district of south Kashmir, joined Lashkar-e-Toiba, just three months after his friend Yawar was killed in August, just 16 days after he had joined the militant ranks. The recruitment of local boys into militancy, Khan says continues to be a worry and Pakistan exploits social media to indoctrinate youth here while as misinterpretation of religion also plays a role to spoil the youth aged between 15 to 25 years.