Director General of Police (DGP) R R Swain on Saturday said that Jammu and Kashmir was moving from resident terrorism to foreign terrorism.
He said the number of local youth joining terrorism has come down and their effort has been to ensure that no local boy joins militant ranks.
“With the help of the community, our effort is that no local boy joins the terrorists … Due to efforts, the number of local terrorists has dropped, resulting in lives and families being saved and a drop in violence.
Our effort is that no family should mourn,” Swain told reporters on the sidelines of a public darbar which was held in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The DGP also said there are 70 to 80 foreign terrorists who have come in from across the border.
“They have been trying to come here regularly and, when they do come, they bring along guns and IEDs. Sometime back, they tried to blow up an electric tower ?? They don’t come with money and come with guns,” the DGP said, adding that a small number of local people help them .
“We will act tough against those people helping them so that the rest of the community is saved,” he added.
On the high voter turnout in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Swain said it was a good beginning and they would like to see this trigger a positive change.
He said the security establishment want to maintain the peaceful atmosphere in J&K where people can vote without fear.
“We are satisfied that elections were held peacefully and the voter turnout was high. This is a good beginning and we would like to see this trigger a positive change by pushing forward a security cycle where everyone is free and without fear. We should not go backwards and rather move forward,” the DGP said.
He said when there will be peace, elections can take place.
“When there is no fear, then only people can vote freely. That’s the atmosphere we want to maintain. Only if there is no fear can people vote freely. If there is no fear, then a person will stand for the elections. I am telling myself that tomorrow, when I leave my uniform, or whether I am a DGP here or not, I am a common citizen.
Tomorrow, if I need to fight the elections or vote, then an environment without fear should be created for that. How do we want to maintain that environment? We are concerned about that. And to maintain that, sometimes we have to face brickbats as well,” he added.
Swain said to ensure that the streets remain peaceful, they have to be tough against some people.
