JAMMU, Dec 5: All security agencies including Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) have braced themselves up to neutralize the terrorists during winters when mountains where they are believed to be hiding will be snow-bound and they could come down to the plains in the Jammu region.
Officials told the Excelsior that a comprehensive strategy has been worked out by the multiple security agencies with the JKP and SOG in forefront to take on the terrorists reportedly hiding in hilly areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur and Reasi districts though they keep on shuttling from one district to another and their presence has also been observed in the hills of Kathua district.
“A strategy is being put in place to neutralize the terrorists who have carried out series of attacks this year targeting security forces and a pilgrim bus in Reasi. A number of terrorists have also been eliminated during the operations,” the officials said.
Already additional troops from Army, paramilitary forces, JKP and SOG have been deployed with creation of new camps, posts and pickets in all vulnerable areas from where a strict surveillance can be kept on the terrorists.
Security forces are anticipating that with heavy snowfall from December 15 to February end, the terrorists from mountain region will come down to the plains and it will be comparatively easy to track down and eliminate them. For the purpose, multiple security agencies are working very hard, the officials said, adding the winters are going to be very crucial.
While number of the terrorists hiding in the mountains of the Jammu region is anybody’s guess, the reports indicated that they are in the groups of three to four and putting up separately in the hideouts which could either be natural caves or some abandoned dhoks.
However, the officials admitted that it would not be possible for the terrorists to survive in the mountains in extreme harsh weather conditions which prevail in Pir Panjal and surrounding hills from middle of December to end of February and they will be forced to come down to the plains.
The terrorists are mostly the Pakistanis and are reported to have infiltrated from across the border and trek mountains to reach hilly areas of Kathua, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts. They are being supported by the Over Ground Workers (OGWs) to sustain by providing them with ration and other essential items.
Recently, Jammu police launched major crackdown in almost the entire region to bust “support base system” of the terrorists during which number of persons were detained and some of them including two women have been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
The terrorists, as per the officials, can’t survive without local support as they are dependent on OGWs for food and other essential items. Once this support system is cracked, the terrorists will be crippled, they said.
The Border Security Force (BSF) had recently deployed two additional battalions on the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of the region to thwart infiltration attempts by the terrorists with the aid of Pakistani Rangers as there were reports earlier that the terrorists had been using this route for infiltration to Kathua and Udhampur and then on way to Kishtwar and Doda districts.
“Focus of the terrorists could be on the International Border during winters as some of the infiltration routes get blocked in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch on the Line of Control (LoC).
