Srinagar: The government of India had claimed that militancy-related incidents will decrease following the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A but the statistics compiled by the Jammu and Kashmir police paint a different picture of the claim.
As per the police data, a total of 41 killings have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir in 20 militancy-related incidents till March 31.
Those who lost their lives include 30 militants, nine security personnel and two civilians. The highest number of killings have been reported in March.
Compared to the previous three years, 2021 has seen a slight decrease but not significant.
"During the first three months of 2018, 73 people had lost their lives while 129 people were killed in 2019 during the same period and in 2020, 53 lives were lost," the data shows.
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Interestingly, the 2019 data also includes over 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in the Pulwama IED attack on February 14.
According to the police figures, a total of 11 people were killed in January this year, including 10 militants and a security force official.
In February, 13 people were killed, including nine militants, three security forces personnel and a civilian.
The highest number of casualties this year was recorded in March. A total of 17 people were killed, including 11 militants, five security personnel and a civilian.
"Our figures include militants who have been neutralised while trying to infiltrate through Line of Control (LoC).
The number of casualties has decreased and that is not because the situation has improved but militants have stopped sharing their photos while posing with guns on social media," a senior police official told ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity.
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The official further said, "As soon as we get input that a young boy has joined militant ranks after being misguided by the Pakistan-based handlers, we try to counsel their family and then try to motivate the newly recruited militant. But when everything fails, we are forced to launch operation to eliminate them. They are under surveillance from day one of their joining."
"A few days ago, three militants were killed in the operation in Pulwama. All of them had taken the wrong path in November and December last year," he added.
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