Low key local militant recruitment on
Kulgam, May 27: Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh Thursday said that Covid pandemic has affected the anti-militancy operations in the UT to some extent as many policemen and security forces have tested positive for the virus while there is a huge deployment of policemen on roads to enforce lock-down.
The UT police chief, however, said that the anti-militancy operations are not on a halt and it was not like police have given a free-hand to militants to roam around as operations are being conducted on the basis of “specific inputs” in areas.
Talking to media mean at Kulgam after touring many South Kashmir areas to review the security measures, the DGP said that during the review, special focus was laid on enhancing the anti-militancy operations across South Kashmir.
“COVID pandemic has affected anti-militancy operations to some extent. But it is not like we are leaving areas free for militants to roam around. Many policemen and security forces personnel have tested positive for the virus,” the DPG said. He said that despite the fact that police is fighting Covid pandemic and enforcing lockdown through its deployments on roads and streets across the Valley, “specific lead based anti-militancy operations” are being conducted in South Kashmir and other parts of Kashmir.
Replying to a query that whether the local militant recruitment has gone down, the DGP Singh said that police never wants boys to join militancy. “Police have been working hard to prevent misguided youth to return. In Kulgam, a group of youth who were about to join militancy were brought back and united with their families,” he said, adding that “similarly, in other districts of south Kashmir, many such groups were prevented from treading a wrong path.”
