Amid the major anti militancy grid launched to wipe out militancy from the region, the government forces have arrested over 300 people in Jammu Kashmir over militancy charges in the year 2022, stats have revealed.
Police chief Dilbagh Singh recently said that militancy was rapidly declining in the Kashmir valley and in Jammu as well. “Militancy is not over, but it is surely declining rapidly, and the government forces are working hard to eliminate the remaining militants in the months ahead,” he told media in April 2023.
He also directed the officers to maintain close coordination besides keeping a close watch on suspects while increasing the patrolling during the night. He asked Police officers to carry out counter-insurgency operations and to target the Over Ground Network of militants.
Over the years, the size and scale of the operation has varied, however, the scale of violence has come down as per Indian Government. Amit Shah, Home Minister of India said that violence in Jammu Kashmir was down by at least 80 per cent.
“During debates in Parliament after revocation of Article 370, the opposition used to say that there would be a bloodbath in the troubled state. We have not only stopped the spilling of blood but also incidents of stone pelting and protests. Over 1.8 crore tourists visited J-K last year,” he said at an event, earlier this year.
Figures gathered by The Kashmiriyat through various sources, mainly the Police press releases from the year 2022 revealed that a total of nearly 350 persons including some active militants were arrested in Jammu Kashmir during the year.
As per official figures of the Jammu Kashmir Police, 172 militants, including 42 foreigners were killed in 2022, while as 100 youth were recruited by militant outfits. “Out of them only 18 left,” DGP said on December 30, 2022.
The number showed a decline against the numbers of 2021 when 134 locals joined militancy and in 2021, 189 Militants were killed in Jammu Kashmir.
Studying the month wise data of arrests
Stats available to The Kashmiriyat reveal that 347 people were arrested for militancy activities and later charged by Government forces during 2022.
The highest number of arrests happened in the month of February when a total of 47 persons accused of militancy related activities were arrested in Jammu Kashmir including one person from Thathri, Doda. Ten persons were arrested from multiple districts of Kashmir by NIA during various raids conducted on February 15.
On January 06, forces busted a module of The Resistance Front (militant outfit) and arrsted four youth in Bhagat area of Srinagar. The four were identified as Suhail Qadir Khanday S/O Ghulam Qadir Khanday R/O Tral Pulwama, Suhail Mushtaq S/O Mushtaq Ahmed Waza R/O Niklora, are active terrorist, while their associates are identified as Basit Bilal Makaya S/O Bilal Ahmed Makaya R/O Qamar Abad Qamarwari and Naikoo Imad Nasar S/O Farooq Ahmed Bhat R/O Kiloora Shopian. Both the associates worked as Over Ground Workers (OGW). Subsequently, 18 more persons were arrested in Militancy related cases in January. In March, 41 persons; In April, 27; In May, 25 persons and in the month of June, 42 persons were arrested in militancy related cases in Jammu Kashmir.
In the first half of 2022, a total of 221 persons had been arrested in militancy related cases and in the second half of the year, beginning July 2022, 126 persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in militancy related cases.
On December 24, Jammu Kashmir Police (JKP) claimed to have busted a Pakistan-linked drug module and arrested 17 people in Kupwara District. Police said that the module was being used to fund militancy from across the border.