New Delhi: Even as the number of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir has come down drastically, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Sujoy Lal Thaosen has said that targeted killing is a matter of concern in the Union Territory (UT).
"In J&K, we worked together with local police and they are helped by the Army, especially Rashtriya Rifles. If you see, the number of incidents, killings of civilians and security personnel have drastically come down. However, the matter of concern in J&K is random targeting of non-locals, as they call it," Thaosen told ETV Bharat.
He said that people working in the orchard, agriculture field, etc who comes from Odisha, UP or other places for daily wages are randomly identified and targeted. "It creates a sense of fear, which is a matter of concern. We are ready to provide all kinds of protection. However, it's not possible to give individual protection," said Thaosen.
Recently, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told Parliament that 14 persons belonging to minorities including three Kashmiri Pandits have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir from January 2022 till November this year. Government records suggest that 184 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in encounters with security personnel in 2022 whereas 124 terrorist incidents took place in which 31 security personnel and 31 civilians lost their lives.
In 2021, 229 terrorist incidents took place in Jammu and Kashmir in which 42 security personnel and 41 civilians lost their lives. Stating that hybrid terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have also become a major issue, Thaosen said that such terrorists can only be controlled, "if we finish the anti-national feelings and feeling of deprivation."
"Now people are getting radicalized online. You need to have a system where the law would be very harsh on all those who are going against the interest of the nation. In school and college the feeling of patriotism has to come," he said.
When asked about the infiltration of Pakistan-backed terrorists into India, Thaosen said that possibility of intrusion of Pakistan-backed militants is always there as long as these organizations are active. Terrorist organizations which are active and accepted in that country, get political, financial, and logistical support.
"There are regular camps where people are trained to conduct subversive activities. So, we need to finish that off. Here international cooperation is very much needed to stop that kind of ecosystem that instigate and support terrorism. Unless the funding is stopped, they will keep committing terror activities," the DG said. Referring to Left Wing Extremists (LWE) areas, Thaosen said that the situation is much better than it was 8-10 years back.
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"The number of districts under severe Maoist influence has come down both in terms of incidents, a number of civilians and security forces killing," said Thaosen who is a decorated Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1988 batch of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
"In Bihar and Jharkhand, after we have occupied areas called Chakrabanda, and Burapahar (considered as a liberated zone), those places are now free from Maoists. It was believed that there were lots of mines planted and now we have completely occupied the area and people are very happy. Government is also taking measures to electrify villages," said Thaosen.
Government services in terms of infrastructure, connectivity, opening up PDS, primary health centers, Anganwadi activities, and transport services have started functioning in most of the LWE areas almost normally. "We can further limit the Maoists' areas if we keep up the pressure along with local police and Central Armed Police Forces. So we can now limit them to a small geographical area and thereafter operation can be launched and we can begin the process of the complete elimination of the problem," Thaosen said.
Speaking about the security scenario in the Northeastern States, Thaosen said that the region witnessed a relatively peaceful time in the last few years barring a few incidents in Manipur and Nagaland. He also said that in Assam too, CRPF along with Assam police are continuously dominating the area.
"Whatever insurgency and insurgents are active, we are going against them. We are in the process of adopting new strategies so that we can be more effective. We are working on more strategies to tackle the remaining insurgency issues," he said.
Admitting that there are some areas in upper Assam where the insurgents have some sympathy, Thaosen said, "Existence of some elements of insurgency groups in some parts of Assam is very much there. We have to stop the ecosystem of insurgency." Thaosen who took charge as the 37th DG of CRPF in October said that he is also giving much more emphasis on the welfare of CRPF personnel and their family members.
"My concern is also the children of our personnel. Since they stay away from their families most of their life and are unable to take care of their family needs, we are trying to make arrangements for the health and education of their spouses and children. We are trying to make arrangements like career counselling for children besides providing skill development initiatives among others," said Thaosen.
