J&K past the stage of uneasy calm; infiltration stopped substantially, says Army Corps Commander

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is past the stage of "uneasy calm" more than a year after the abrogation of Article 370 and the Indian Army has been able to stop infiltration "substantially", Lieutenant General B S Raju, Commander of the Army’s Chinar Corps (XV Corps) was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

Raju, who is responsible for operations along the Line of Control (LoC) and against militancy in J&K, also said the infiltration attempts have been reduced due to a combination of factors, including "additional personnel, additional technology" along the LoC, and "drones to monitor movement".

There is no desire on part of Pakistan, however, to stop the infiltration attempts, Raju said, adding that they have intercepted infiltrators, saying that they were unable to go but still being pushed.

"We have been able to keep the violence level at a threshold…where normal people can continue to do their job… (We) have been able to keep the terrorist numbers also under a fair amount of control," Raju was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

According to Army Data cited by the newspaper, the total number of terrorists killed in October is 171, along with 50 apprehended and three surrenders.

"But while we do these operations, I have said this earlier, it doesn’t give us pleasure to kill people, especially people who have just picked up arms a month back," Raju said, adding that in every operation, the Indian Army attempts to get people to get back.