Pakistan trying to destabilise J&K: Army
Today’s stone pelters are tomorrow’s militants: GOC Chinar corps
SRINAGAR, AUGUST 02 (PTK): Corps Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon on Friday sid that Pakistan was planning an offensive against the Amarnath Yatra and that adequate security measures have been put in place to thwart any such attempts.
He along with State Police Chief Dilbagh Singh was addressing a joint press conference over the prevailing security situation in the state. According to duo the situation is under control measures to tackle with any eventuality have been taken on priority.
Corps Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon showed pictures of the mine bearing Pakistan’s ordnance factory’s stamp and said, it laid to rest any doubts about Islamabad’s direct role in attempts to destabilise J&K.
Security forces had also recovered a cache of arms and IEDs apart from the mine during a three day long intensive search operation to sanitize the Amarnath yatra routes.
The search operation was conducted after receiving specific intelligence that Pakistani army was looking to target the yatra.
Speaking on the locals who joined militancy, Lieutenant General Dhillon asserted that 83 per cent of were stone pelters. He warned the families that for a mere amount of Rs 500 a person shouldn’t be allowed to pelt stones as “today’s stone pelters are tomorrow’s militants”.
In 2019, 60 per cent terrorists were killed within 10 days of picking up guns 17 per cent were killed within three months and 36 per cent were killed within six months
He informed that Amarnath Yatra was a target for the Pakistani Army-backed militants who wanted to disrupt the pilgrimage. Lieutenant General Dhillon asserted that based on information from credible sources, a thorough search is being conducted on both the northern route (Pahalgam) and southern route (Baltal) along with the adjoining areas.
He added that several IEDs, ammunition, an M24 American sniper rifle and even Pakistani Army mine has also been recovered, which was targetted at pilgrims. The search is being conducted by the Army along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The GOC Chinar corps said that the situation at the Line of Control (LoC) is under control and peaceful as of now. He also informed that infiltration from Pakistan is being attempted regularly and the Indian Army has been foiling the attempts.
Speaking on the ceasefire violation by Pakistan, the Army warned that it Pakistan makes an attempt again, India will reply.
He also said that militants leadership is the main target, especially Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), “but we have been able to eliminate most of the leadership. Work is still in progress”. The GOC informed that the IED threats have also increased. (PTK)
