Srinagar: Pakistani side is desperate to infiltrate terrorists or smuggle war-like stores into Kashmir as the number of ultras and arms and ammunition is at an all-time low in the Valley, a senior Army official has said.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Army’s 19 Infantry Division Major General Ajay Chandpuria made these remarks while addressing reporters in Baramulla after security forces recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Halanga area of Uri in the north Kashmir district.
Flanked by SSP Baramulla Rayees Ahmad Bhat, Maj Gen Chandpuria said that a joint search operation along with police was launched in the general area of Hathlanga on Friday, which lasted for about eight hours and concluded with recovery of arms, ammunition and other war-like stores.
He said the recoveries include eight AK-74 rifles, 24 AK-74 rifle magazines, 560 7.62mm AK-74 live ammunition, 12 .30mm Chinese pistols, 24 Chinese pistol magazines, 244 .30mm pistol live ammunition, nine Chinese hand-grenades, five Pakistani-origin hand-grenades, 81 balloons with “I Love Pakistan” marking on them, and five synthetic gunny nags with Pakistani marking.
In this sector, this year, in about 6-8 operations along the LoC or close to the LoC, 14 AK rifles, 20 pistols, one M16 rifle, 76 hand-grenades, 1226 AK rounds, 484 9mm rounds, 15 kg of drugs and 10 more suspicious narcotics packets have been recovered, the Army officer said.
Maj Gen Chandpuria said the recoveries were made at a time when there is huge desperation on the Pakistani side to either infiltrate terrorists or smuggle war-like stores into Kashmir as the number of ultras and arms and ammunition was at an all-time low in the Valley.
“The situation is near normal in Kashmir valley as the number of terrorists and the availability of war-like stores is at an all-time low. So, there is huge desperation from the other side to either infiltrate terrorists or smuggle war-like stores,” GoC told reporters in Baramulla.
“The situation is near normal in Kashmir valley as the number of terrorists and the availability of war-like stores is at an all-time low. So, there is a huge desperation from the other side to either infiltrate terrorists or smuggle war-like stores,” he said.
Security forces keep getting such reports on a regular basis and whether it was an attempt by terrorists or smugglers to get war-like stores cannot be said, the Army officer said, referring to the recovery of the weapons.
“We are still following up the leads and certain details cannot be shared, but a movement close to the launchpads was picked up. Probably, they (terrorists) panicked and left the war-like stores behind and withdrew to that side,” he said.
Maj Gen Chandpuria said there have been attempts on the border not only of infiltration but also of smuggling war-like stores and drugs in the past as well.
“There are some areas like this one where we have houses ahead of the LoC fence, closer to the LoC, and because of the movement of the people right to the LoC, such attempts are reported from time to time,” he said.
He said based on the intelligence inputs received from multiple intelligence agencies over a period of two weeks about infiltration attempts and dumping of war-like stores by terrorists in the Hathlanga area of Rampur Sector, multiple ambushes and search operations were conducted since past fortnight along the LoC.
Speaking during the presser, SSP Baramulla Rayees Mohammad Bhat said that so far no major infiltration has been reported along the LoC this year in Baramulla district.
“We are looking at areas in the hinterland where militants receive little support and are being combated accordingly. There have been attempts throughout the sector and in other places to push for the shipment of weapons, ammunition, and narcotics to this side,” he added.
The district police chief also claimed that balloons (recovered during operation), which are typically sent more frequently to the Jammu side, have been sent to the valley side for the first time.
