by Umar Khurshid
Srinagar: In wake of the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, the army on Tuesday said that whosoever picks up the gun in Kashmir will be killed, unless he surrenders.
Addressing a presser at Badami Bagh cantonment Srinagar, Lt Gen K S Dhillon of the 15 Corps Commander, said that within 100 hours of an attack on a CRPF convoy, the mixed contingents of counter-insurgent forces including Army, CRPF and J&K Police killed the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leaders who planned and executed the deadly attack.
On Monday, after the Pulwama attack, it was the first encounter between counterinsurgency forces and militants in Pinglina village of south Kashmir which ended with the killing of four army personnel, one policeman, three militants (two Pakistani and one local militant) and a civilian. The soldiers and cops including top officers who sustained injuries in the encounter are being treated at 92 Base Army Hospital Srinagar.
When asked why the forces suffered more causalities than the militants, Dhillion said, “we didn’t want any civilian causality on the spot which led us to suffer more causalities.”
In a joint presser, the CRPF, J&K police and army, said that the Pulwama attack was carried by Pakistan based JeM outfit, with the full support of Pakistani army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Appreciating the key role of mothers in getting their sons back from the militancy, Dhillion appealed all the mothers whose sons have joined the militant ranks to bring their sons back and join the mainstream.
“Our commanders were on the front that is the reason our top officers’ sustained injuries,” Dhillion said. “However, there is a significant dip in the militant recruitment from last many months, as in co-operation with the families many boys returned to the normal life,” he said.
But taking advantage of the snow, there were many infiltrations this winter from International Border including Samba, Hiranagar, and Pathankot.
When asked despite the tight security and deployment of forces all over, how the bomber managed to reach on the highway, Dhillon said the civilian vehicle movement was not being checked earlier, as it leads to the inconvenience. “It is propaganda, that we force people to join the militancy,” Dhillion said replying to a Hyderabad based reporter, who was told by the people that they are being pushed to militancy while coming to cover the event.
Amid the reports of attacks and harassment of Kashmiris, be it a student, trader or an employee of a company, IGP CRPF Zulfiquar Hasan said that the students studying outside are being taken care of by the authorities outside.
