States »NortPosted at: Mar 20 2021 5:11PM Though no violation along LoC after ceasefire pact; Pak maintaining drugs supply :J&K DGP
However, he said the neighbouring country was still sending drugs and weapons into this side of the border with the help of drones.
“The infiltration has been kept under check as our security grid has worked efficiently throughout the year. And recently, ceasefire violation incidents have stopped completely since fresh talks between India and Pakistan. So there are no reports of fresh infiltration that took place in J&K,” Mr Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of an Under-19 T20 Zonal-level cricket tournament at the S K Cricket Stadium in Srinagar on Saturday.
Answering a question, he said 2020 was one of the best years in terms of checking the infiltration. “I wish and hope that the infiltration will be as low as possible… I would love it to be zero and we will make our efforts in that direction. The year 2020 was one of the best in terms of checking the infiltration. So hopefully 2021 will be better than the previous year,” he said.
On the increase in local recruitment in militant ranks in Kashmir, Mr Singh said, “The situation is not alarming. Some youths have joined militancy in Srinagar as they were radicalized by those elements, who are not happy with the peace. We will deal with such issues.”
“We will have to put our heads together with the religious leaders and social activists. They have to play a role to ensure that the youth are kept away from the gun,” he added.
The DGP said there was no let-up in the neighbouring countries ‘sending weapons and drugs in large quantities’. “Huge quantity of drugs is being sent from across the border, be it through Kashmir border or Poonch and Rajouri. We have seen that narcotics are being dropped with the help of drones. Such huge recovery of narcotics is unprecedented,” he said.
However, he said police is countering the smuggling of drugs in an organized manner. “A new wing Anti Narcotics Taskforce (ANT) has been introduced in the Crime Branch of J&K Police to successfully counter the smuggling of drugs,” he said.
He said besides drugs, huge quantity of weapons and cash also comes in these consignments.
Answering another question, he said huge quantities of pistols, AK rifles of various kinds, M-4 US-made rifles and those made in Pakistan or Afghanistan were seized last year in the Valley. “The weapons recovered last year were incomparable with the number of arms and ammunition recovered in previous years. As many as 471 weapons were recovered in 2020 while the number was not even half of this in 2019,” he said.
He also lauded the efforts of the security forces that led to the surrender of three dozen youth during around 12 during live encounters in J&K last year.
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