Zero tolerance for custodial killings: J&K CM
CM said civilian killings have come down from last year's 199 to 144 till May this year.
Pledging "zero tolerance" for custodial killings in Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that it would be possible with the active help and understanding of "our committed and disciplined security forces".
In a brief speech at the Unified Command meeting, the chief minister said with civilian killings coming down from last year's 199 to 144 till May this year, a very strong message against human rights violations has been conveyed to the security forces and the results are "quite assuring".
"Zero tolerance for custodial killings is our avowed aim and God willing we shall achieve it soon with the active help and understanding of our committed and disciplined forces," Azad said.
The situation, he added, was improving fast in the state though incidents such as the "criminal suicide attack on the Congress rally on May 21 and grenade attack the following day may be seen as aberrations aimed at scuttling the roundtable conference and the peace initiatives."
He said a close synergy that now existed between security forces and the civil administration in the state had resulted in general improvement in the overall situtation.
Giving details of the level of violence in the state, he said "we have been able to bring down the total number of violent incidents from 716 till May last year to 587 this year for the same period.
"Civilian killings have also come down from 199 to 144 and killings of political activists to six from 22 in the corresponding period of last year."
