The Kashmir Pulse

JAMMU — Jammu and Kashmir’s Police chief R R Swain on Saturday said that foreign militants are getting some support from “our territory” and the police was mindful of the security situation in the region.

Addressing the year-end press conference in Jammu, DGP Swain, as per the news agency KNO, said that he has already admitted that there is a security situation in Rajouri-Poonch region. “There are foreign fighters who have some support coming from our territory. Their (those supporting foreign militants) number is very, very limited,” he said.

He added, “The foreign fighters hide in houses with the result that information flow is less. They hide in caves, jungles and wilderness.”

As far as the counter-strategy is concerned, DGP Swain said that the same can’t be discussed before the media. “We have discussed the issue and strategy at the top level. We will effectively deal with it,” he said.

Recently, four soldiers were killed and two others injured in Poonch district of Jammu when heavily armed militants attacked an army vehicle at Dera Ki Gali. After the incident, many civilians were taken for questioning and three civilians allegedly died in army custody which triggered a massive public outcry.

The incident had forced army chief General Manoj Pande and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit the area to calm the nerves. Union Minister Singh visited the hospital to meet the civilians allegedly tortured and also the families of three slain civilians. He assured them that justice will be delivered.

To a query that PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that she wasn’t allowed to meet the families of three slain in Poonch, DGP Swain said that the job of the police is to ensure that the visit is not leveraged in a malicious manner.

Replying to a query about whether Rajouri-Poonch region was going back to what it was between 1997 to 2003, the DGP said that police are mindful and that there is a gap between the past and present situation. “We will fill this gap…,” he said.

8000 fake social media handles identified in J&K: DGP Swain

J&K Police wasn’t fighting against the gun-wielding militants only but also the false narrative being spread by almost 8000 fake social media handlers sitting across with an aim to incite trouble and glorify terrorism, Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain said.

“Our battle is not against terrorists only but against the narrative which is being spread by 8000 fake social media handles—Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Their handlers are sitting across and their aim is to incite trouble and glorify terrorism. They peddle wrong information. We are acting against them under the ambit of law after differentiating the genuine and not-genuine,” he said.

He added, “We will act against them under IT Act 61. If the need arises, we will catch hold of them through Interpol.”

The year 2024 will witness a decisive battle against narco-terror. “The links between narco-terror, separatism and terrorism was already nailed in 2022,” he said.

He added, “Links of narco-terrorism have been found in Kashmir to Jammu to Punjab and Delhi. Other links including the handlers were traced in Paris, Canada and Turkey. In the recent case of the Ramban narco-terror module, the mastermind was traced in Turkey.”

DGP Swain said that police are mindful of cybercrime and the fact is that this crime is going under-reported and affecting more people than what police actually knows.

“We are upgrading the system and lot more needs to be done to prevent cybercrimes," he said, adding that a large amount was traced and given back to the people who were cheated through internet fraud and digital world frauds.

POONCH — Four militants have been killed by the security forces in a joint operation in Sindhara area of Poonch.

An official said that the first engagement between security forces took place at around 11:30 PM yesterday after which drones were deployed along with other night surveillance equipment.

"At dawn today, the encounter started again with a heavy exchange of fire between the security forces and militants," he said.

Indian Army’s special forces, Rashtriya Rifles and J&K Police along with other forces were part of the operation.

"The militants killed in the operation are most likely foreigners and their identity is being ascertained," he said, adding that the search operation is going on in the area.

DODA — Superintendent of Police (SSP) Doda on Wednesday said that 118 militants of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda are based in Pakistan and PoK, of whom 10 are most active and are attempting to spread militancy in the region by recruiting the youth.

"Two militants have been declared as ‘Individual’ (those indulging in lone-wolf attacks) militants while two others as ‘Proclaimed Offenders’ (PO)," the SSP said while addressing a press conference here at Doda.

The police have also seized the properties of one of the POs and are preparing a dossier against those attempting to revive militancy in the district, he said.

He said 118 militants of Doda are based in Pakistan and PoK at the moment, of whom 10 are most active. "They try to involve the youth here in militancy. They are trying to spread militancy once again in Doda and the Jammu province. We have made the profile of 10 such militants who are most active. We have declared two individual militants and two as proclaimed offenders,” he added.

“We have seized the properties of one of them. We are collecting evidence against the rest. We are preparing the dossier against those who are attempting to revive militancy in Doda. We are collecting the details of their properties and action will be taken against them when the time comes,” he said, adding that police were preparing to act against the ‘most active militants’ in the region.

KUPWARA — The Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Indian Army on Thursday said an infiltration attempt at the Line of Control (LoC) was foiled by the forces and “one infiltrator” was killed in the Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

“Based on a specific input developed by security forces regarding infiltration attempt of militants near LoC, an ambush was put in place by Police and Army in the said area,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara, Yougal Manhas said while addressing reporters here, as per the news agency KNO.

“As the infiltrating militants were intercepted by the joint party of security forces, they were challenged and in return fired indiscriminately upon the joint party which was retaliated by the joint party, leading to an encounter,” he said, adding that one militant was killed in the encounter and subsequently his body along with arms and ammunitions were recovered.

The SSP further said the other militants managed to flee to the Pakistan side as the area is very close to the Line of Control (LOC).

In a statement, a Defence spokesperson said alert troops deployed in an anti-infiltration grid detected the move of three militants near the LoC fence. It reads on being challenged at close proximity to the post, an intense firefight ensued, resulting in the successful elimination of one militant and injury to the other.

“The injured managed to flee back along with the third militant, taking advantage of darkness. A thorough operation was launched along with police in the morning, resulting in the recovery of the body of the militant, one AK series rifle, one light automatic weapon, six magazines, two grenades and large quantities of war-like stores,” the army said.

SRINAGAR — On the fourth anniversary of Pulwama attack, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar on Tuesday said that out of 19 militants involved in the attack, eight have been killed, seven were arrested and four including three Pakistanis are still at large.

Talking to the media persons after paying tributes to the CRPF men, who were killed on this day in 2019, ADGP Kumar, as per the news agency KNO said the security forces are after Jaish-e-Muhammad and almost all their top commanders have been neutralized.

"At present, JeM has only 7-8 locals and 5-6 active Pakistanis including Mossa Solaimani," he said, adding that police are after them and they will be neutralized soon.

He said they are busting militant modules, and are especially after narco-terrorism and terror funding. "We have been able to recover Rs 41 lakh and recently in Baramulla, Rs 26 lakh have been recovered," he said while replying to a query.

He also said the cases registered against OGWs involved in such activities are being disposed of at a rapid pace. "The number of such cases has reduced from 1600 in October last year to 950 at present and 13 convictions have also been made so far."

He further said that a total of 37 local militants are presently active and that only two among them including Farooq Nalli and Riyaz Chatri are old while the rest have joined recently.

Meanwhile, Inspector General Operations Sector CRPF, M S Bhatia said the situation has improved on the ground since the Pulwama attack and such attacks will never happen given the measures taken by the security forces. "There is remarkable progress after the attack in 2019. Militant modules are being busted, their ecosystem is being busted. We are sure that this kind of attack will not happen again," he said.

He further said the attacks on minority communities are acts of cowardice and those behind such attacks have been killed while measures have been taken to prevent such attacks.

"We are determined to protect minorities and in this regard, several modules involved have been neutralized. The CRPF and Police and other security forces have been ensuring protection to the minority community and we will ensure proper security for them," he said.

Replying to a query, he said the module is being busted before it carries out any major damage. "We are always taking action in the beginning and neutralizing the module when it takes birth. You have seen several encounters have taken place last year. We are trying to deny that space to militants to execute any major damage," he said.

JAMMU — Jailed Pakistani militant, who was injured in a firing incident during a weapon recovery operation in Toph village of Arnia sector along the International Border in Jammu, has succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, police said here.

A senior police official, as per the news agency KNO, said that during investigation of a case, it came to fore that a militant from Pakistan, who was presently in jail in Jammu was involved in some militancy networks after which a weapon recovery operation was launched in Arnia sector.

He said that during the operation, a police constable and the Pakistani militant identified as Mohd Ali Hussain alias Qasim alias Jehangir were injured in the firing incident. "The duo was shifted to a hospital for treatment, however, injured militant succumbed to his injuries."

Meanwhile, a police statement said that an accused of Jammu had made revelations that a Pakistani prisoner by the name of Mohd Ali Hussain has been instrumental in drone droppings and is the main operative of LeT and Al-Badr.

The statement reads that he was produced before court on production from jail and subsequently police remand was taken. It reads that during sustained questioning the accused admitted his role in the Arnia Weapon Drop case and also disclosed two locations where the arms and ammunition dropped by drone had been concealed.

“In order to recover the weapons, a police team along with concerned magistrate went to the spot one after the another. Though no recovery was made at the first place but at the second place namely Toph village, a packet of arms, ammunitions and explosives were recovered,” it added.

It reads that when the packet was being opened, the accused attacked one of the police official and snatched his service rifle and fired at the police party, while he tried to flee from the spot.

“In retaliation, the accused got injured and was shifted to GMC Jammu along with the injured police official. The injured militant later succumbed to his injuries, while the dropped packet is being scrutinised with the help of bomb disposal squad,” it reads.

JAMMU — A police personnel and a jailed militant were injured in a firing incident during a weapon recovery operation in Toph village of Arnia sector along the International Border in Jammu, police said here on Wednesday.

A senior police official, as per the news agency KNO, said that during the investigation of a case, it came to the fore that a militant from Pakistan, who is presently in jail in Jammu, was involved in some militancy networks after which a weapon recovery operation was launched in Arnia sector.

He said that during the operation, a police constable and the Pakistani militant identified as Mohd Ali Hussain alias Qasim alias Jehangir were injured in the firing incident.

He said that the duo have been shifted to a hospital for treatment and further details will be shared accordingly.

SRINAGAR — Three Pakistani militants of the Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit were killed while one J&K Police cop was also killed in a 'chance' encounter in Kreeri area of Baramulla district on Wednesday, officials said.

Inspector-General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar as per the Kashmir Police Zone Twitter handle said, "We've killed three Pakistani militants of JeM. They were active in this area for the last 3-4 months and we were tracking them."

"One police personnel also got killed. Till now in this year, we've killed 22 Pakistani militants," it said.

As per the sources, the three Jaish militants have been identified as Haneef, Ali Bhai and Shah Wali, all residents of Pakistan.

SRINAGAR — Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar on Sunday said that the two militants killed in the Kulgam encounter were Pakistanis and were active since 2018 in areas of Kulgam and Shopian district.

Quoting IGP, Kashmir Zone Police in a tweet said that the killed JeM militants have been identified as Sultan Pathan and Zabiullah and they were residents of Pakistan.

He said that they were 'Categorised' militants and were active since the year 2018 in the areas of Kulgam and Shopian districts.

Earlier, an encounter broke out in Mirhama village of Kulgam district on Saturday and during the ensuing encounter, two militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit were killed.

An official said that incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two AK rifles, seven AK magazines, nine grenades etc. were recovered from their possession.

KULGAM — Two militants, including a Pakistani, were killed in south Kashmir’s Kulgam during a gunfight, police said on Monday.

Police said that the Khurbatapora village of Kulgam was cordoned off after receiving inputs about the presence of militants.

During the search operation, contact with militants was established, leading to a gunfight. During the exchange of fire, two militants were killed while two men from the counter-militancy Special Operation Group (SOG) of J-K Police sustained injuries.

Soon after, the injured policemen were shifted to a hospital for treatment.

Police in a tweet, while quoting IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, said that one Pakistani militant (code name Chacha) and one 'hybrid' militant were killed in Khurbatapora encounter.

SRINAGAR — The number of foreign militants in Kashmir has gone up in the first three months of 2022 (January-March) as the number of local militants fell considerably, official data compiled by the Indian Army revealed on Monday.

Figures available with the news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) suggest that among a total of 172 militants active in Jammu and Kashmir, 79 are foreigners while 93 are local militants.

The data also reveals that 156 militants are active in the north of Peer Panjal and 16 are in the south of Peer Panjal.

“Also, there have been 28 cases of attacks against government forces and eight against civilians,” the data states, adding that 15 youth have joined militancy in the first three months of the year and there have been 23 incidents of weapon recovery by the forces in the first three months of 2022.

The figures state that there were two infiltration attempts of which one was foiled.

There has been no increase in the ceasefire violations. This year, there has been none, data reveals.

SRINAGAR — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh against three absconding TRF militants.

An NIA spokesman identified the accused as Sajjad Gul alias Sheikh Saijad alias Sheikh Sajad alias Sheikh Sajad Gul alias Sheikh Zaid son of Ghulam Ahmed, resident of Ansari Lane, HMT Colony, Bemina, Srinagar; Salem Rehmani alias Abu Saad, a resident of Nawab Shah, Sindh Pakistan; Basit Ahmed Dar son of Late Abdul Rashid Dar of Redwani Payeen, District Kulgam and Saifullah Sajid Jatt, a resident of village Shangamanga, District Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan.

The four are affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), a frontal outfit of Lashkar-i-Toiba (LeT), the NIA said.

It said that all the four militants are wanted in case RC 32/2021/NIA/DLI.

SRINAGAR — Police on Thursday said that a “Pakistani” militant who was active from last six months in Srinagar was killed in a brief shootout in Hazratbal area of the summer capital of J&K.

“A police party was tracking him and his aim was to carry attack on the police guard at the shrine and snatch his rifle,” Inspector general of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters at the scene. “Soon after seeing the police party he fired with pistol and the fire was retaliated, leading to the killing of the militant,” the top police officer said, adding, “He was a Pakistani and was active from last six months. His video had also gone viral recently,” he said. He said two more militants fled from the scene and “we are tracking them using CCTVs etc.”

To a question by a journalist that how police see the attack near Hazratbal given the faith of the people from all religions with the place, he said, “The aim, like the incident in Pulwama mosque today and at this shrine, was to hurt the religious sentiments and create law and order problem.” He said that pistol has been recovered from site at Hazratbal.

IGP Kashmir termed the Haider’s killing in Srinagar as a “big success and congratulated the Police for conducting successful operation without any collateral damage especially to the nearby historical religious place.”

Meanwhile, the IGP told GNS that killed militant has been identified as Haider and he was a TRF commander.

Later in a statement this evening Police gave full identification of the killed as Manzoor alias Haider alias Hamzah, a Pakistani national. “The killed (militant) along with two other (militants) who managed to escape from the spot were on a mission to snatch weapon from the police personnel guarding the Hazratbal Shrine,” a police spokesperson said, adding, “The timely action of small police party who were tracking them led to the (killing) of (militant). Efforts are on to track the other two (militants) who fled from the spot”

As per police records, the spokesperson said, Haider was a close associate of militant commander Mehran LeT (TRF) and “was involved in several cases.”