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8 of 19 Pulwama attackers killed in 4 years, 7 arrested: J&K Police
Saying that such kind of attack won’t be allowed to repeat, CRPF inspector general (operations) MS Bhatia said, “Lessons have been learnt. We have been following a more secure operating procedure to prevent any further incident that puts lives at risk.”
Of the 19 terrorists involved in the 2019 Pulwama attack that claimed lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men, eight have been killed, seven arrested while four, including one local, are absconding, Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Tuesday.
The remarks by Vijay Kumar, additional director general of police, Kashmir zone, came on the fourth anniversary of the Pulwama attack.
“Nineteen terrorists were involved in the Pulwama attack, of whom eight have been neutralised, while seven were arrested. Four are still at large and of them, three are Pakistanis, including (Jaish-e-Mohammed chief) Masood Azhar,” Kumar said after paying tributes to the slain CRPF men at the Pulwama Martyrs’ Memorial in Lethpora.
He said in past three years, the forces have “wiped off” Jaish-e-Mohammed from Pulwama. “In Pulwama, there is no commander of Jaish at present. Only seven to eight local and five to six foreign terrorists of Jaish are active in south Kashmir. Among them is Musa Sulaimani, who is active in Kulgam district and forces are after him. We will catch him soon,” he added.
The ADGP said in the past few months, Jaish had been trying to strengthen its cadre by recruiting local terrorists. “Recently, we had busted a module in Kulgam and arrested six persons. Yesterday also, a militant of Jaish was arrested. We won’t allow Jaish to gain any foothold here again,” he further said.
Won’t allow such attacks to take place in future: CRPF
Saying that such kind of attack won’t be allowed to repeat, CRPF inspector general (operations) MS Bhatia said, “Lessons have been learnt. We have been following a more secure operating procedure to prevent any further incident that puts lives at risk.”
“We follow the security protocol measures strictly. We leave no space for any lapses. Every point on the convoy’s route is either manned by physical or electronic surveillance,” said Bhatia. “If we spot suspicious activity, our teams on the ground are ready to nip it in the bud and prevent any untoward incident.”
As per CRPF officials, the federal force has imposed a complete ban on movement of civilian vehicles whenever a convoy is passing through the highway between Jammu and Srinagar. The highway has been divided into 12 sectors for security purposes and there are now CCTV cameras at strategic locations. The security forces also use bulletproof vehicles, and bridges along the road are sanitised by bomb disposal squads, the officials said.
“Weeks after the attack, a joint meeting of the CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Intelligence Bureau and other agencies was held to prevent such an attack in the future,” a CRPF officer said, asking not to be named. “A new standard operating procedure specifically for the movement of convoy was put in place. It is followed to the T. The loose ends that led to the attack were tied up in the new SOPs.”
37 local terrorists active in Kashmir: ADGP
ADGP Kumar said that 37 local terrorists are currently active in Kashmir.
“Among these terrorists, only two are old ones and all others have been activated in the past six months,” he added.
