Claiming that elements across the border in Pakistan, who are inimical to the interest of civilian well-being and general prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, were trying to disrupt peace and drag the Union Territory back to the dark days of militancy and violence, Director General of Police RR Swain on Saturday warned locals to remain awake and alert to the threat from the ‘adversary’.
His remarks come close on the heels of the Rajouri encounter during which the forces gunned down two Pakistani terrorists, holed up inside a cave in a thickly forested terrain in the district.
Five soldiers, including two senior ranking officers, lost their lives in the encounter between terrorists and a joint team of the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Bajimaal area of Rajouri district on Wednesday.
Among the two terrorists that the forces neutralised was feared Lashkar-e-Taiba sniper Qari, who was allegedly involved in several recent terrorist incidents in the UT.
The soldiers, who made the supreme sacrifice in the Rajouri firefight, were identified as Captain M V Pranjal, Captain Shubham Gupta, Lance Naik Sanjay Bisht, Paratrooper Sachin Laur and Havildar Abdul Majid.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a Janta darbar in Poonch on Saturday, DGP Swain said, “I don’t there’s any reason to be overly alarmed by the recent events. But I feel that a common citizen, especially one residing in the Jammu province, should remain mentally alert because the intent of the adversary continues to be inimical. However, their capability to inflict harm is not as they intend to project it.”
On the prevailing political crisis in Pakistan and challenges when it comes to securing India’s borders, the DGP said, “It is a long, porous, and difficult border, and the whole country’s system is subverted, or convoluted as I would call it. So we have a challenge in our hands.”
Acknowledging that cross-border terrorism continues to pose a major challenge for the security forces in the UT, the DGP added, “No one is shying away from the reality that there is a challenge. But the Indian state and its government have the wherewithal, the will, and the resoluteness to defeat it.”
Allaying fears of terrorism emanating from across the LoC impacting social life in the Valley, the DGP said, “The State will not allow it (terrorism) to become a cause for concern, where normal life, business, activities, peace and security would be derailed.” (ANI)
