SRINAGAR: Security forces had over the past four years shot dead eight and captured seven of the 19 identified Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists involved in the Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy on February 13, 2019, Kashmir zone additional DGP Vijay Kumar said Tuesday.
Paying tribute to the 40 CRPF troopers killed in one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in J&K, he said the remaining four—Pakistani assailants and one Kashmiri terrorist who are at large—would be hunted down and punished.
“JeM currently has only about seven or eight local terrorists and half-a-dozen operatives of Pakistani origin, including Mossa Solaimani,” ADGP Kumar said.
Fielding questions from reporters on the fourth anniversary of the Pulwama attack, he said security forces are keeping the pressure on terrorists, with heightened border surveillance, and by busting hideouts and sleeper cells as well as choking funding routes. “We have seized Rs 67 lakh in Baramulla so far,” he said.
According to CRPF IGP (operations) MS Bhatia, the situation has improved in the four years since Pulwama and such attacks will never happen again. “Remarkable progress has been made since 2019. Militant modules are being busted, their ecosystem smashed…,” he said.
Asked about the string of attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, religious minorities and migrant workers in the Union territory, both officers assured that preventive measures have been taken.
“We are determined to protect minorities. Several modules involved in the attacks have been neutralised. CRPF, police and other security forces are protecting the minority community,” Bhatia said.
Paying tribute to the 40 CRPF troopers killed in one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in J&K, he said the remaining four—Pakistani assailants and one Kashmiri terrorist who are at large—would be hunted down and punished.
“JeM currently has only about seven or eight local terrorists and half-a-dozen operatives of Pakistani origin, including Mossa Solaimani,” ADGP Kumar said.
Fielding questions from reporters on the fourth anniversary of the Pulwama attack, he said security forces are keeping the pressure on terrorists, with heightened border surveillance, and by busting hideouts and sleeper cells as well as choking funding routes. “We have seized Rs 67 lakh in Baramulla so far,” he said.
According to CRPF IGP (operations) MS Bhatia, the situation has improved in the four years since Pulwama and such attacks will never happen again. “Remarkable progress has been made since 2019. Militant modules are being busted, their ecosystem smashed…,” he said.
Asked about the string of attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, religious minorities and migrant workers in the Union territory, both officers assured that preventive measures have been taken.
“We are determined to protect minorities. Several modules involved in the attacks have been neutralised. CRPF, police and other security forces are protecting the minority community,” Bhatia said.