250 militants still active in Kashmir, 25 killed in 12 operations since Jan in J&K: DGP

Srinagar, Feb 22 (UNI) Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Saturday expressed satisfaction over the progress of anti-militancy operations, saying 25 militants have been killed in 12 operations since January while 250 are still active in Kashmir valley.

Reiterating appeal to militants to shun the path of violence and join mainstream, he said over 45 Over Ground Workers (OGWs) have been arrested since January this year in the valley.

He said the people friendly policing is paying off as the situation is normalizing in Kashmir.

He further said that recruitment of youth in militant ranks has also come down drastically. “In less than two month, 20 anti-militancy operations were conducted in J&K. Of this, 12 operations, including ten in Kashmir and two in Jammu, were successful. During the successful operations, 21 militants were killed in Kashmir and four were killed in Jammu,” Mr Singh informed reporters during a press conference here on Saturday.

He said another good thing about these operations was that there was no collateral damage to civilian population. “We are happy that no collateral damage happened and we are hopeful that we maintain this record in the future operations as well,” he said.

Giving details about security force action in the last about two months, he said various terror modules were also busted. “Security forces have acted tough against OGWs, who provide logistic support to militants. So far over 45 OGWs have been arrested,” he added.