Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Monday claimed that all three militants killed during an overnight operation at north Kashmir's Sopore town were militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and they had carried out “two major attacks in the area since March 29 this year.”
“The operation was jointly conducted by the police, army and the CRPF. IGP Kashmir and GoC (Kilo Force) were personally monitoring the operation. During the gunfight, three deadly militant commanders were killed which is a big success for police and security forces,” he said while addressing a joint press conference with the Army at the police control room at Srinagar.
"The slain trio were top commanders of LeT. 18 FIRs have been lodged against Mudasir Pandit in various police stations. A foreign national Abdullah alias Asrar was a close aide of Pandit and he has been working along with him since long and the third one was Khursheed Mir against whom there were six FIRs registered," the DGP added.
Giving details about the cases against the trio, he said, "All three were involved in several militancy-related incidents that included the killing of civilians, security forces personnel, former militants and sarpanchs in north Kashmir. The group was also involved in two major attacks in the Sopore area—first one on March 29 in which two Municipal Councillors and a policeman were killed and another one in which two policemen and two civilians were killed in the main market in Sopore on June 12."
Also read: Top LeT terrorist among 3 killed in encounter with security forces in Baramulla
Giving further details of the operation, the General officer Commanding of the army’s Kilo Force, HS Sahi claimed that the Sopore operation was carried out in a built-up area which is always a difficult thing.
“There was no collateral damage. A soldier received a minor bullet injury in his shoulder, who was evacuated to base hospital where his condition is stable,” he said, adding that the primary focus of the Army is to break the local-foreign militant nexus and to plug the recruitment to prevent further “cycle of violence in Kashmir.”
“I appeal to civil society and people of Kashmir to cooperate with us so that we break this network. Breaking this network is important to stop the cycle of violence. I appeal to local militants to leave gun culture and join the mainstream. If they don’t, they will meet a similar fate as in the Sopore gunfight today," he said.
Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar too appealed to families not to give shelter to active militants.
"The slain militants were hiding in a house whose son was also a militant. I urge the militant families not to give shelter to active militants. Then they blame the police for misbehaving with them….The families of militants should refrain from providing food and shelter to active militants. The three slain militant commanders were involved in two major attacks carried out in the area in the past three months," he said.
Speaking about how locals helped in tracking down these militants, he said, "As you are aware, we had circulated posters displaying the images of all three wanted militant commanders. This helped us to track their movement. In this process, locals helped and cooperated with us as well.
Also read: Top LeT terrorist, Pakistani national among 3 killed in J&K encounter
"Sopore has become the hub of narcotics. Two things are destroying Kashmiri youth—indulging in narcotics and falling prey to indoctrination. I urge parents to keep a close watch on the activities of their children," he added.
Kashmir not foreign militants free: DGP
While responding to a query regarding the presence of foreign militants in the valley, the DGP said that this year only two foreign militants have been killed in Kashmir and that a good number of foreign militants are still present in the valley.
"This year only two foreign militants have been killed in Kashmir and both were killed in Sopore. Both the slain foreigners were from LeT. There is a good number of foreign militants present in Kashmir still but they are lying low. So it would be wrong to claim that Kashmir is free from foreign militants,” the DGP said
Speaking about infiltration, he said that the fresh ceasefire pact between India and Pakistan armies in February this year has helped check infiltration to a large extent.
"Narcotics and weapon smuggling is taking place from the Kupwara sector and huge quantities of narcotics and weapons were seized recently. On the LoC and IB in Jammu, there was infiltration of narcotics and weapons through drones which has stopped for now,” he said.
While responding to a query on the presence of militants in Srinagar, he said, "There are a couple of militants from Srinagar who are operating in the city outskirts. We have seen one or two incidents in Srinagar. We can’t filter 100 per cent movement of militants but in near future, you will see good operations in the outskirts of Srinagar city."
He also claimed that "no politician is under custody as for now" while responding to a question of whether more politicians are going to be released in view of the upcoming All-Party meet to be held on June 24.
