It’s not only in the Kashmir Valley, security agencies are concerned over attempts to revive militancy in the Jammu division as well.
In the past one year, police and security forces recovered around 65 improvised explosive devices [IED] that had been planted along highways and busy roads in Jammu.
A senior government official said that Pakistan-based terror organisations were approaching former militants with the intention to recruit them afresh.
“Pakistan-based handlers are contacting ex-militants to gauge their availability for specific missions. We have picked up chatter that indicates so,” the official said.
The Chenab valley, which comprises Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts of the Jammu division, has often been declared “militancy free” in police records. The latest such categorisation came on June 29, 2020 when the Jammu & Kashmir Police killed Masood, the last surviving Hizbul Mujahideen militant from Doda, in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Anantnag.
Another official said that IED devices and small weapons were being dropped using drones in areas close to the International Border in Jammu.
The Border Security Force [BSF] had installed anti-drone guns along the International Border in Jammu to detect suspicious movement by air.
“The plan to simmer tensions in the Jammu division is to invoke communal tension. Jammu has a mixed Hindu-Muslim population,” the official said.
As reported earlier, since March, there have been more than half-a-dozen mysterious explosions in buses, vehicles and open spaces in the Jammu division.
The official said that though Pakistan had agreed to observe all agreements pertaining to the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) with effect from February 25, 2021, and shelling had stopped, giving a breather to the border residents, there was no let-up in infiltration attempts from across the border. “Counter-insurgency operations continue along the border as there are inputs on infiltration from across the border,” the official said.
On May 26, a woman identified as Amreen Bhat, popular on social media for her short videos, was shot dead, and her nephew injured, in a terrorist attack in central Kashmir’s Budgam. The woman was at home when two men opened fire on her. Security agencies believe there were two theories doing the rounds on her killing. “One, they thought her to be a police informer, and second, it could be related to fundamentalist ideology,” the official said.
