'Recycled terrorists' or those who keep getting back to terrorist groups after being released from jail is a worrying trend that security officials in Kashmir are grappling with.

Several of the terrorists on the recent 'most wanted' list are "recycled terrorists", who have been under the lens in the past but were given an opportunity to be part of the mainstream as they were not involved in terror acts, security officials said.

The trend raises questions on the rehabilitation programmes that are failing to ensure suspected terrorists shun violence and get back to leading normal lives.

The recent case of Altaf Ahmed Dar alias Altaf Kachroo who was gunned down last week is that of a three-time recycled terrorist.

He went to jail for possessing a weapon illegally and booked under the Arm's Act in 2003. After being released a year later he spent the next six years freely before he was arrested again for the same offence in 2010. Again after spending a year in jail, he was released.

According to records, his recruitment in Hizbul Mujahideen was done in 2006.

Since 2015 had been part of terror conspiracies and also went on to become the divisional commander of South Kashmir for Hizbul Mujahideen.

Officials say Kachroo's case is not an isolated one. "There are thousands of surrendered terrorists who can get active again. Some of them become police informers but many of them turn rogue," said a security official.

Among the many fresh local terror recruits, there are several who have earlier been under suspicion and had stints in jail. "Many of them are also radicalised in jails," said an official.

Over the last few years, local recruitment has spiked. This year there have been close to 100 and the number is likely to go past last year's tally of 128, which was a 10-time increase since 2013 when the figure was just 13.

Among the most wanted 20 terrorists in Kashmir, half are those who were recruited in the last 2-3 years.