300 Terrorists Across Line Of Control Waiting To Infiltrate: Officials

Infiltration may have dipped in Jammu and Kashmir in the last one year after the rearrangement of Jammu and Kashmir - from state to union territory - but in the coming days, infiltration attempts will shoot up and the Line of Control (LoC) will get more active as Pakistan has activated 27 launch pads along the LoC where 327 terrorists are waiting to sneak in India, government officials have said.

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has intercepted many conversations and has sent an SOS alert to security forces that are deployed along the India-Pakistan border in anti-infiltration grid. 

"This year infiltration levels have come down drastically but Pakistan is not relenting in its efforts and to boost up morale of its cadre they are escalating efforts both in terms of infiltration and ceasefire violations. That's why we have further strengthened our border deployments and anti-infiltration grid also," a senior officer in charge of operations in the valley discloses.

According to him, this year so far only 35 terrorists have managed to sneak in to the Indian side. "Last year numbers were double - almost 60 had crossed over but this year we have managed to push most of them back," he says.

The Home Ministry's fact sheet says, in the first six months there have been 429 ceasefire violations, as opposed to 605 incidents in same time period last year.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, due to the heightened vigil along the LoC, a pick-up vehicle was intercepted by security forces in Kupwara and they arrested three persons carrying 10 kg brown sugar, two AK-47s with two magazines, two pistols with four magazines and 20 grenades. 

"Weapon markings were erased and grenades had Chinese markings which clearly indicate that these were being pushed from across the border," he states, adding that these weapons were being transported for action in South Kashmir.

Following this, the security forces have further strengthened counter insurgency grid in South Kashmir. In the first seven months this year, maximum numbers of encounters too have taken place in this region.

"There are 165 active terrorists in the valley as of now, out of which 135 are in South Kashmir and that's why more operations are taking place in this region," Inspector General (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar told NDTV.

As per Home Ministry's data, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama are the three trouble-prone districts and despite best efforts, penetration of security forces has not been that successful. That's why the number of active terrorists in this region is always around 150.

"Hold of Jamaat is still strong in region. Most of the top commanders are also from these areas and radicalisation in last few months have also gone up due to resentment against centre," explains a senior bureaucrat in the ministry.

Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbagh Singh states that operations in this region are not initiated by terrorists, rather by security forces, which indicates that forces have the upper hand. 

"Presence of forces in these trouble-prone areas have ensured that not only law and order is under check but also incidents like civilian killings have come down," DGP Dilbagh Singh says, adding that due to synergy among forces, terror support structures are also being targeted and operations are also yielding results. "Fifty terrorists were killed in June month alone. It is a record in the past one decade," he says.