Only 37 Militants Active In Kashmir: ADGP Vijay Kumar

By Majid Nabi

Srinagar- Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Vijay Kumar claimed on Tuesday that all the nineteen militants, who were involved in February 14, 2019 Pulwama attack were charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Kumar said eight out of the total nineteen militants involved in 2019 Pulwama attack; eight were killed in security forces action while four, including three foreigners are alive and seven others arrested.

“Security forces have broken the back of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit in the valley, as all long standing militants including top commanders of this outfit have been neutralized and we will ensure that this outfit won’t flourish again,” Kumar told media after paying tributes to the slain security personnel on their fourth anniversary at the Martyr’s Memorial in Lethpora, Pulwama on Tuesday.

The provincial police chief also said that cases registered under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) are disposed off ‘considerably’.

“1600 UAPA cases pending till October last have come down to 900, while 13 convictions have also taken place. Cases registered under UAPA are disposed off considerably, which I think is a remarkable achievement,” he said.

“19 militants involved in the 2019 Pulwama attack were charge-sheeted by the NIA. Of them, 8 have been killed and 7 are in jail while rest four among 3 foreign terrorist’s including Azhar Masood, Rouf Masood and Alvi and one militant from Pulwama Kashmir are in Pakistan at present,” he added.

On the presence of active militants in Srinagar, the ADGP said no one amongst long standing militants is alive in the city and that no new recruitments are taking place in Srinagar.

“Except Momin, no new youth has joined militancy in Srinagar so far. Regular movement of Momin and Basit from Pulwama has been reported from the Eidgah side. We missed contacts with them several times, but we will either arrest them or neutralize them soon,” Kumar said, adding we see Jaish has started recruiting local youth again.

He also claimed that a total of seven to eight Jaish militants and five to six foreigners are active in the valley at present, while all long standing members including top commanders stand neutralized by the security forces.

“Operation against terrorism is on and we have broken the back of Jaish outfit for the last three years in Kashmir, no long standing militant of this outfit is alive. Sameer Dar and Zahid, both from Pulwama were killed. A total of seven to eight Jaish terrorists are active and five to six Ft’s including Musa Suliamani is active in Kulgam, he is a Jaish Militant and a long standing militant. We are after him and will neutralize or arrest him soon,” ADGP said.

Kumar said that a total of 37 local militants including Farooq Nali from Pakistan and Riyaz Chatri from Pulwama, are long standing militants active in the valley while all top commanders of the Jaish outfit have been killed. Rest, he said, are new recruits who have joined militant ranks recently.

He said the security forces mainly focus on narco-terrorism and terror funding modules, as 25 hand grenades were recovered by the security forces a day earlier while cash amounting Rs 41 lakh was also recovered in Baramulla and Rs 26lakh in Srinagar.

“25 hand grenades were recovered yesterday. We mainly focus on sticky bombs, grenades and pistols. Since we are busting small modules, we focus on narco-terrorism and terror funding,” he added.

Regarding smuggling of weapons, he said “SF’s recover weapons on a daily basis which are either dropped via drones or brought in through LoC or IB.

“We have made our network strong. We recover whatever comes from IB or LoC while associates too are arrested,” Kumar added.