Security forces are keeping a close watch on a new trend in Jammu & Kashmir militancy wherein terrorists are indulging in looting banks and snatching weapons from the police. Terrorist organisations need money to pay fighters and also provide them with weapons. Faced with twin issues, they have snatched at least ten weapons including AK-47s in the last few days. Moreover, six incidents of bank looting have taken place since May and the total amount looted is more than Rs 10 lakhs.
Apprehending a spurt in such incidents in the coming days, senior commanders have directed the law enforcement agencies to be more vigilant to prevent weapon snatching. Also, security has been further tightened in banks to deter terrorists from robbing them.
Explaining the reasons for the twin pronged attack by the terrorists, officials said here on Sunday the number of new recruits joining various terrorist ‘tanzeems(organisations)’has gone up to more than 100 in the first seven months as compared to 126 for the entire last year.
In order to provide them with some cash every month to survive, terrorists groups have now gone on bank robbery spree. The main objective of having ready cash is to ensure that more recruits come into the fold of the ‘tanzeems’ if assured of regular retainer ship so to speak, sources said.
Similarly, the new militants have to be equipped with weapons and the last nine incidents of snatching in the last three months include INSAS rifles and AK-47s. These weapons, most probably, have already found their way into the hands of the recruits and officials have not ruled out attacks on security forces in the coming days.
Coupled with the new threat, the security establishment is also gearing up for a possible spike in levels of violence with the presence of more than 230 odd well trained militants in three districts of restive South Kashmir.
The anti-militancy grid including the Army, Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) and the local police is evolving new tactics to meet this challenge, officials said.
Admitting that presence of such a large number of experienced fighters of tanzeems is a matter of concern, they said the main objective of security forces is to deny militants a free run.
Not ruling out attack on vital installations besides camps of security forces, operational commanders are constantly reviewing security of these establishments. In order to deny space and time to militants to move around, the Army has fanned out in the hinterland and remote areas to keep the militants on the run and not allow them to regroup, they said.
Elaborating upon this aspect, officials said militants take refuge in apple orchards dotting South Kashmir during the months of August and September when the crop is in full bloom thereby providing cover to militants due to thick foliage.
Another worrying aspect is Hizbul Mujahideen(HM) and lashkar-e-Tayyaba(leT) joining hands in recent months to bolster their strength in terms of cadres and weapons to carry out attacks. While the Hizbul has the maximum number of cadres of 180-190, the leT has 70-80 while Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) has a strength of 10-25.