later freed as mother appeals to terrorists to release him as he has no role in anti-terrorism operations; abduction of cops/SPOs aim to hit intel gathering, demoralise police
A Jammu & Kashmir special police officer (SPO) who was abducted by terrorists on Friday — the third case of kidnapping in the last one month with two cops being killed in cold blood — was freed late on Saturday as he has “no role in anti-militancy activities”. SPO Mudasir Ahmad lone was released after his mother made a fervent appeal to the captors to free her only son claiming that he has no role in anti-terrorism operations and he was not an informer, but a mere cook at a police station.
Inspector General of Police Swayam Prakash Pani late on Saturday told the media that lone was released and “has reached his home”.
Terrorists are indulging in abduction to instil fear among locals to desist from sharing information related to their movement in the hinterland to police, and to demoralise the State police force.
The area of the latest abduction, Pulwama, along with Kulgam and Shopian in South Kashmir, is where the intelligence agencies have pointed to the presence of over 200 terrorists who are likely to join hands with the heavily-armed group of 25 highly-trained ultras drawn from different groups like Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and lashkar- e-Tayyeba (leT).
Security forces have launched a major drive to nab or neutralise the new group of 25 terrorists, who a few days ago released a photograph on the social media. The group photo showing all the ultras carrying AK-47s was shot in an apple orchard in Shopian. The terrorists belonged to a combined group of HM and leT thereby indicating that the two terror outfits have joined hands to step up violence, officials in the security establishment said.
Expressing concern over the gathering of such a large group of heavily armed terrorists despite sizable presence of security forces, officials admitted that the ultras were able to move freely and then brazenly upload their photo.
It was done with the twin purposes of challenging the security forces on the one hand and warning the peace loving locals that their writ ran on the other, sources said.
The spate of abductions of policemen in the last few weeks is also part of the strategy of terror outfits to cripple the intelligence gathering machinery, they said. Officials also admitted these incidents have somewhat impacted anti-terror operations due to lack of real time tip-off by the local police.
In the latest incident, terrorists on Saturday early morning abducted Mudasir Ahmad lone, a Special Police officer (SPO), from his home in Tral area of Pulwama district in Jammu & Kashmir, the police said. Security forces have launched an operation to rescue the abducted policeman, officials said.
It is the third such case in the last one month. Earlier, on July 21-22, constable Saleem Shah was abducted from his home at Mutalhama village in Kulgam. He was undergoing training at Kathua and was at home on leave. Terrorists barged into his house and took the cop to an unknown place before killing him.
He was reportedly involved in anti-terror operations and the ultra groups targeted Shah to demoralise the police. On July 6, constable Javaid Ahmad Dar, also at home on leave, was abducted from Vehil in Shopian. His body was found near a stream by local residents in Pariwan, Kulgam the next day.
Asked if any advisory has been issued to the cops given the trend of abductions, DGP SP Vaid replied in the negative but said the policemen must take adequate precaution while on leave. “We have to see how to deal with the issue,” he added.
Explaining the significance of triangle of three districts in South Kashmir namely Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian where the abductions took place, officials in Delhi said the maximum number of terrorists is now present there. Nearly 220-230 ultras out of a total 280 to 290 operating in the Kashmir Valley are now hiding in South Kashmir thereby posing a big challenge to the security forces, they admitted.
Such a large number of terrorists in three districts give rise to apprehension that restive South Kashmir will see spike in terrorist related incidents in the coming days, sources said. Things will become more difficult in the next fortnight or so when apple orchards will be in full bloom leading to dense foliage. Terrorists take advantage of this factor and hide in the orchards to avoid the security dragnet, they said.
Out of total 290 terrorists in the Valley, there are 165-170 local militants and remaining foreigners. While the HM has the largest group of 180-190, leT has 70-80 and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) 25. Nearly 220-230 of the total are based in South Kashmir while 60-70 are in a triangle of three districts of North Kashmir including Handwara, lolab and Sopore.