Srinagar

23 September 2019 22:11 IST

DGP says youth are being picked up and counselled

Director-General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir, Dilbag Singh has said there has been 3,000 cases of young men being picked up and released subsequently in the Kashmir Valley since August 5.

In an interview to The Hindu, Mr. Singh said the police’s intention was not to cause any harm to the youth in the long term and preventive detentions were a temporary kind of arrangement for the maintenance of law and order.

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He said “the situation was not normal but peaceful” as there were no restrictions in place anywhere in the State. “People were cooperative as they had understood that violence doesn’t pay.”

The DGP said there was no definite timeframe for the release of political leaders or restoration of mobile phone and Internet services in the Valley.

“Detentions are a dynamic process. There are certain areas where youth come and throw stones. Our purpose is to not cause any harm to them... they are subsequently counselled and handed back to their families,” Mr. Singh said.

He said some 200 people were retained in jails as they were repeat offenders and multiple cases were registered against them.

“There are cases where an entire village would come and give assurance for a boy. A small kid cannot understand the consequences of his acts. But there are repeat offenders, you counsel them but they do not correct themselves. We cannot allow people to commit crime... but now even that number is going down. More and more people are released. Very few are in detention,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the police and security forces were exercising restraint and “pellet guns were used in almost zero cases”.

“Earlier pellet gun injuries used to be in hundreds. This time only two such incidents have been reported. Look at the kind of pressure we [police] are working under... as many as 90 security force personnel have been injured, some got stitches, a few have fractured limbs ... but we are using minimum force,” he said.

He said the number of people lodged in jails outside the State was not more than 200 and they were shifted due to acute pressure and lack of space in jails here. Those arrested also include Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president Mian Qayoom.

Regarding Mr. Qayoom’s arrest, the DGP said, “The Bar president is very well known for his past records resulting in certain activities that are prejudicial to maintenance of peace and order...They aligned with the Hurriyat in the past and participated in activities not very conducive to maintenance of peace and order.”

He said separatists were under house arrest and so far their conduct has been decent. “There are restrictions on their movement and some are under house arrest. If any one of them does an activity that is unlawful then strict action will be taken against them,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the situation was getting better by the day and even shops around the house of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani were open.

He said foreign and local militants were present in equal proportion in the Valley and terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) have a sizeable presence.

He said the Pakistan Army was making all efforts to push in more militants from the Line of Control in Kashmir and International Border in Jammu sector.

“A large number of militants have been brought closer to the LoC and that is why there are a large number of ceasefire violations and firing on the border. In a couple of places, they not only tried but succeeded in infiltrating. One such group was caught also. Similar attempts are being made in Gurez, Macchil, Keran, Rajouri and Poonch and also in Hiranagar, RS Pura and Akhnoor sectors of Jammu...Pakistani agencies are making all-out efforts to push in militants and it is most likely that some of them were able to cross over,” he said.

He said the possibility of militants moving around in Srinagar cannot be ruled out and that kind of possibility was there as movement of vehicles on a large scale has been allowed.