Local terrorists on the decline, future fights against foreign militants: J&K DGP

“There are only 31 identified local terrorists in the UT – including four in Jammu province’s Kishtwar district and remaining 27 in Kashmir Valley,” he said, adding that this is the all-time low figure as compared to past several years.

A total of 373 terrorist associates were arrested during the year 2023 against 291 in 2022, he said.

Two terrorist groups– Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party led by Shabir Shah and the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League – have been banned this year under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, apart from Jamaat-e-Islami, which was already declared unlawful, he added.

The DGP also referred to the overall improvement in situation on ground in J&K, leading to successful conduct of G20 meet, smooth conduct of Amarnath pilgrimage, in which 4.50 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine, record number of tourists visiting the Valley and also big political programmes such as the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress.

After 34 years, the Muharram procession, in which nearly 40,000 Shias participated, was organised, he said.

“Behind this overall improvement in the security situation is the difficult job being done by us behind the curtain,’’ he said. Elaborating, he said that after keeping a watch on the movement of people associated with separatists and terrorists, the police have put restrictions on 354 people of the total population of 1.04 crore in the UT.

“We have identified a large number of people including the unknown faces sitting across the border and doing false campaigns, and taken action against them,’’ the DGP said.

The J&K Police has attached 99 properties valuing more than Rs 170 crore during the year. A total of 102 people were arrested in 85 cases and of them, chargesheets have been filed in court in 30 cases, he said.

‘Narco terrorism’

The DGP also talked about taking their fight against narco terrorism to a new level in 2023. He said one kg heroin worth Rs 5 lakh moves from across the border and its value becomes Rs 1 crore by the time it reaches Delhi. The money collected is then sent across the border and from there, it is resent to J&K for terror activities, he said.

He also referred to the link between bovine smuggling and the terror network. Last year, a total of 5,370 vehicles were identified by police for involvement in bovine smuggling, he added.