Militants attempting to disrupt Anantnag polls, provoking retaliation for civilian casualties: DGP

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, June 4: Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, K Rajendra Kumar, believes that the two audacious strikes by militants on BSF and State Police in Bijbehara and Anantnag respectively on Friday and Saturday were part of their planning to disrupt the Assembly by-elections in Anantnag and the forthcoming Amarnath pilgrimage.

"Striking at crowded public places in Bijbehara and Anantnag makes it unmistakably clear that the militants plan to disrupt the June 22 by-election besides this year's Amarnath Yatra and a flourishing tourist season", Rajendra told STATE TIMES. "They have strategically chosen the holy month of Ramazan, which coincides with the passage of Amarnath Yatra, for creating a 2008-like political turmoil", Rajendra asserted.

"But we have already seen through their intentions and directed the troops and the Police to observe maximum possible restraint and avoid collateral damage", DGP said by telephone. He claimed that the militants' objective was nothing but to provoke retaliation at a crowded place where several people could be killed in crossfiring with a minute mistake or overreaction by the soldiers or Police. "We didn't fall in the trap either yesterday or today", DGP asserted.

DGP said that the authorities would nevertheless take "all the necessary preventive and administrative measures" to deal with the situation and break the militants' and their supporters' network and funding channels. "The separarists in tandem with the militants are desperately trying to create 2008-like turbulence which could come handy in the month of Ramazan", he added. He pointed out that they had first raised the "bogey" of the Sainik colonies and the Pandit colonies besides the new Industrial policy "trying to create a social unrest and disturbance".

"We are clear that we will not fall in their trap. We will get after the militants' support structure but ensure that there is no civilian casualty from our offensive. We will not act on rumours and speculations. We will launch operations only on specific information and conduct the same with total professionalism", DGP asserted.

Rajendra said that the militants' offensive was also a demonstration of their failure and desparation as Police and security forces had carried out dozens of successful operstions this year and neutralised scores of the militants and their supporters in these operations.

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[Published in today's STATE TIMES]