Dilbag Singh, the Jammu and Kashmir director general of police, speaks during a news conference (File photo)

JAMMU: Amid incidents of terrorists threatening people in Kashmir against venturing out of their homes, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Wednesday said patrolling has been intensified and various other measures initiated to instill confidence among locals.

Police are conscious of these threats and over the past month, a couple of terrorists were neutralised and over two dozen others, including their sympathisers, arrested in the Valley, he said, adding that the people have not responded to the Pakistani propaganda and foiled Islamabad's designs to create unrest.

"We are with the people and they are with us. We will not allow any harm to come to them. Those who are threatening them will be taken care of and the terrorists will be neutralised," the DGP told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Singh said there is a large presence of terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC) but expressed confidence that the counter-infiltration grid will take care of the threat.

On terrorists threatening orchardists, shopkeepers and setting a car ablaze in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Tuesday, the top cop said, "Two militants, who burnt down a car after beating its driver in Sopore yesterday, have been identified as Sajjad and Muzaffar of the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT). We will take care of them very soon."

"We have already neutralised a couple of them, including the one who shot and injured four members of a family of a fruit dealer in Sopore," he added.

The DGP said those threatening the people were being identified and necessary action taken.

"We have taken good care of the people especially in the rural areas by intensifying patrolling even covering the orchards to instill confidence among them. Wherever we are getting information of any kind of militants' pressure on people, we are moving in and identifying the culprits.

"The message had gone down very well to the masses. We have arrested eight persons from Sopore who were printing and pasting threatening posters. We have also picked up half a dozen people from Srinagar, while a dozen others were picked up from south Kashmir," Singh said.

The police and other security forces would take care of the terrorists and will definitely neutralise them, the DGP asserted.

In reply to another question about Pakistan trying to instigate the people for mass uprising after the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the DGP said people did not fall for the propaganda from across the border and "we are grateful to them for their cooperation in maintaining peace, and law and order."

"Pakistan was hoping that people would buy their propaganda and come out in numbers. It did not happen as the people did not respond to their falsehood," he said.

DGP Singh Pakistan is aiding, abetting and pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir to foment trouble in India. "They have moved a large number of militants along the Line of Control (LoC) and brought them to the launching pads. Even they are coming beyond the launching pads and sitting with Pakistani army in forward pickets," he said.

The DGP said two Pakistani militants were captured by the Army in Gulmarg sector recently and attempts of infiltration were also made in Uri, Keran and Karnah in north Kashmir and Poonch in Jammu region.

He said Pakistan and its agencies are using the social media platforms to foment trouble in different parts of the country. "I am sure the people will not pay any heed to the nefarious designs of Pakistan, which stand exposed in the world and will get further exposed with time," DGP Singh said.

