Says three local militants killed in Tral gunfight belonged to Hizb outfit, Mobile data of trio killed in Lawapora encounter suggests 2 youth from Pulwama were in touch with people across LoC, third one was talking to top militant commanders in Pak; directions passed to all security forces not to use abandoned buildings before sanitizing them
Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Jan 29: Jammu and Kashmir will soon come up with its own web portal to counter the articulation of young youth of the Valley and to rope in parents whose children are being lured towards militancy, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar said on Friday.
He also said that three slain militants killed in Mandoora area of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district were all locals and of them was active since August last year while two had militancy in January this year. As per news agency-KNO, addressing a press conference, the IGP Kumar said that police was well aware of the efforts being made across LoC through various online portals and website to instigate “young minds of Kashmir and to lure them into militancy.”
“To counter the same, we (police) will soon come up with an online portal where we will hold interactive sessions with parents and the misguided youth. Online counselling sessions will also held on the portal and it will be a useful tool to de-radicalize the youth,” the IGP said. He said that parents too must keep a close watch on their wards and ensure they don’t tread a wrong path.
About Tral encounter, the IGP said that all three militants were given ample time to surrender but they refused and instead lobbed grenades and fired indiscriminately. “After it was established that they are locals, they were repeatedly asked to surrender, but they refused. In the ensuing gunfight, all three were killed. They belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen outfit,” he said, and identified the slain as Waris Hassan of Naibugh, Tral, who was active since August 2020 and two others as Arif Ahmed Sheikh of Monhama, Tral and Ehtishaam Misger from Check, Noorpora, who had joined militancy in January this year.
He said one AK-47 riffle, two pistols and four grenades were recovered from the slain militants.
The IGP said that this year police policy is clear that ample time will be given to the local militants especially new recruits, who get trapped in the encounters. About Lawapora encounter and the repeated demand of family members of three slain that the bodies of their loved ones must be returned, the Kashmir Police chief said: “Whatever the parents of slain trio have claimed so far is totally baseless and wrong. Fact is that all three were in touch and were travelling together on the day of encounter.
One among the slain (son of a policeman) was called by SoG Pulwama in 2019 and later set free after thorough counselling. Our investigation has revealed that two among the slain (from Pulwama) were talking to people across LoC. This was the IP address retrieved from their damaged phones have suggested. The third was in touch with the top commanders across the LoC. The content like the chats etc, is difficult to retrieve as their phones had got damaged. We will file a detailed report in the court with proof.”
About the recent IED explosion along the highway in Kulgam district in which one soldier was killed and three others injured, the IGP said that an advisory has been issued to all security forces not to use the abandoned buildings for shelter or any other purpose before sanitizing them. “The IED attack at Kulgam was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad militant Altaf Ahmed along with a foreign militant. Altaf is active since May 2020. Both of them will either be killed or arrested soon,” he said.
