‘People as well as security forces due to internet shutdown’

SRINAGAR, Jan 2: Director General of Police, Dilbag Singh Wednesday said presence of ISIS was not large in Kashmir but the youth were being radicalised towards ISIS ideology.
“In the past also, carrying IS flags and displaying them publicly to show that there is a large presence of such elements. We would again say that presence (of IS) is not that big but the fact that people are being radicalised on those lines that can’t be denied,” the DGP told a presser here.
“The presence of ISIS is not that big in Kashmir but some youth are being radicalized by their ideology by anti-national and anti-social elements and their ill-designs have to be defeated,” he said.
The DGP said, “Kashmir civil society has been as such been an open society, a very secular kind of culture where we extend due respect to our places of worship. Such efforts had been made at various quarters and their expression has been seen in the kind of activities we saw other day (at Jamia Masjid).”
He said that many youth lost their lives at encounter sites during 2018. “These are unfortunate deaths. Sometimes youth rush to encounter sites and attack the deployment. I again appeal youth not to waste their lives by rushing to encounter sites,” he said. “There has to no compromise with the safety of people. The security forces are showing maximum restraint to save the lives of people.”
The DGP said that it was “painful” to see youth who have picked up arms are being killed in operations.
Over the frequent internet shutdowns in Kashmir, he said, “There are some anti-national elements, who are blowing things out of proportion on social media and become a security issue. We know people get as well as security forces suffer but it is for safety of common masses. We hope there is less number of shutdowns in 2019.”
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, SP Pani said that 97 encounters took place in the previous year of which 83 witnessed no collateral damage.
“252 militants were killed in 2018. We lost 45 JKP personnel, nine CRPF men and 30 army soldiers. 44 civilians were also killed by militants in the past year,” the Kashmir police chief said in a press conference. He was addressing the media along with top police brass, here where they unveiled the JKP calendar 2019.