Hizbul militant Adil Hussain, who surrendered during an encounter, at a press meet in Srinagar on Monday. (Photo: PTI)
ENCOURAGED BY the surrender of two local militants during operations in south Kashmir’s Shopian and Kulgam districts in the last couple of days, and successful operations across the Valley over the last month or so, police and Army authorities on Monday urged local militants to lay down weapons and join the mainstream.
They said security of surrendered militants will be ensured.
More than 30 militants, most of them locals, were killed in various operations across the Valley in the last one month. On Monday, Army and police killed two Hizbul militants and arrested a local militant during an operation. Similarly, on Sunday, two militants were killed in an operation in Shopian and one was arrested.
Of late, there has been a growing demand from the people that local militants should not be killed and, instead, given a chance to surrender.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Muneer Ahmad Khan on Monday said that there have been result-oriented operations in Shopian and Kulgam in the last few days. “The operations were different this time. In Shopian, one of the militants, identified as Adil, a local man who had joined militancy about three months ago, was firing at the forces during the encounter…. He lost balance and could not fire any more. The militant could have been killed by the forces — there was no way out (for him), but we preferred to give him a chance to return to the mainstream,’’ Khan, accompanied by senior Army and CRPF officials, said.
Khan said security personnel involved in the operation preferred that the militant should join the mainstream. He said that during encounters militants can come out and surrender any time. “We will receive them with dignity to join the mainstream,” Khan said. If it is found that arrested or surrendered militants are not involved in big crime, they will be rehabilitated in the mainstream by the government, he added.
