Over 360 terrorists killed in two years in Kashmir, says CRPF DG

Security forces has reduced the ‘shelf life’ of terrorists

NEW DELHI: Back-to-back operations by security forces in the Kashmir valley has reduced the "shelf life" of terrorists and over 360 were killed in less than two years, CRPF Director General (DG) Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar has said.

In an interview to news agency PTI, he said as figures show an increase in the number of local youths joining terror groups in the Valley, security forces are reaching out to young men through all possible ways to stop them from taking up arms.

Bhatnagar said keeping in mind the security challenges, the CRPF has "increased the protection level" of its troops operating in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir by inducting full-body protectors, bullet proof vehicles and special armoured 'interception vehicles' to enable personnel to operate in life threatening situations.

"The terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir... Some of them are from outside and there are also the misguided youth (locals) who join terror groups. It is quite a mix. The numbers go up and down but if you were to look at the length, the time for which terrorists survive in J-K, then the signal is very clear that it (terrorist recruitment) is having no impact.

"The shelf life of terrorists, the time frame to survive, is very short. So, even if the numbers (of joining terror ranks) may be large, they may be more, but the consequence is

limited," he said when asked if recruitment of local Kashmiri youths by terror groups is rising and a cause of concern.

The chief of the country's

largest paramilitary force said the youth was being drawn into it (terror ranks) as "there was a

little bit of glamourisation", but they have to understand that it will not get them any result.

"It is only a matter of time. We have made a lot of efforts (to wean them away) and have also asked them to surrender, and a lot of them have come back. They have to understand that taking up the gun serves no purpose," he said.

The CRPF chief, on youths taking up arms, also said, "Obviously this is something that we have to prevent and take appropriate steps so that the youth does not take to militancy and those who have done so, come back."

"The official numbers show an increase in recruitment. However, with the increase in the number of neutralisations the overall picture is better," he said.

Bhatnagar acknowledged that the forces were taking it as a challenge to ensure that a lot of effort is taken to see that recruitment of youths for terror acts goes down.

Good governance, transparency in official dealings and an all-round exercise is on to gain confidence of the public and the youth in Jammu and Kashmir and the valley, he said.

The chief of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which has over 60 battalions deployed in the Kashmir valley (over 60,000 personnel), said his force, the state police and the Army are operating in "very good synergy".

The forces now have an edge or to say the upper hand in the terrorism scenario in the valley, Bhatnagar said.

"We have worked as one unit. That has given us a lot of success. This year 142 terrorists have been neutralised. If you look at last year's figures, it was more than 220 terrorists who were killed. There is excellent coordination between security forces and they have the upper hand.