No major terror attack in past three years, says MoS Reddy

The government has claimed that in the last three years no major terror strike has been engineered in the country’s hinterland barring a terror attack in Amritsar in 2018. However, in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as many 1,500 terror related incidents were reported during the same period.

The Amritsar incident was reported on November 18, 2018, in which one person was killed in a grenade attack at Adliwal village near Amritsar. Minister of State G. Kishan Reddy informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that, “As per available information, the involvement of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) has come to notice in this incident. The Punjab Police has arrested three persons involved in this attack.’’

In J&K 1,550 terror incidents were reported in Jammu and Kashmir between 2017 and 2019 in which 251 security personnel, 118 civilians and 627 terrorists were killed during the period.

The minister claimed that the main sponsor of terrorism was Pakistan’s ISI which had close association with terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen. The Pak intelligence agency, ISI, also provide safe havens, material support, finance other logistics to terrorist groups, he said. Regarding a question on undertrial terrorists, the minister claimed this data was maintained by state governments.