LOCAL MILITANCY SEES A SURGE IN THE VALLEY

NEW DELHI: On Friday May 11, Ashiq Hussain Ganie, an undergraduate student from Pulwama in Kashmir, announced his entry into a militant organisation by posing with an AK 47 and a pistol on social media. Ganie, police say, is the 43rd local to have joined a terror group this year.

Local government and security forces officials are worried by the fact that 28 of them joined in April — the highest in a month since resurgence of local militancy after the rise of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

The numbers have gone up since Wani was killed in an encounter in July 2016.

The new recruits included a Phd Aligarh Muslim University scholar, an MBA, a former army jawan, an assistant professor and undergraduate students.

Confirming the numbers, director general of police SP Vaid said while the number till Friday morning, according to the police was 42, some other intelligence agencies put it at 45. Vaid, however, confirmed there has been a rise in the numbers last month.

Underplaying numbers, Vaid claimed the trend is the same as last year. “Last year the number was 127, which was highest in years, so in first few months 45 is not that high, but it is certainly a concern,’’ he added.

The DGP, however, did not explain the sudden spike last month. “There is a cycle of violence happening here. Killings lead to more recruitments, more recruitments mean more killings,’’ said a senior journalist, Sheikh Mushtaq.