On a day when Union Government’s interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma arrived in Kashmir, the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) today said the militants in Valley may step up their violence to derail peace initiative.
Inspector General (IG) CRPF, Ravideep Sahi told reporters at a press conference here in Srinagar that whenever any step is taken for peace, the militants try to derail it. “There is an input. May be a grenade throwing or may be hit and run attack. There is indication that they may step up violence. Whenever any such step is taken place which leads to peace, the enemy will not want peace. They may try to step up the violence,” he said.
The IG CPRF said that the situation is under control right now but said the security agencies should remain alert. “We keep on receiving inputs about militant activities and their movements. The situation is under control but we are alert,” he said. Sahi said that based on inputs in the past, the government forces neutralized many militant commanders in Srinagar and its peripheries. He said that there is no permanent base of militants in Srinagar city but they keep coming and going.
The CRPF IG said that the stone-pelting incidents have reduced in Kashmir post-April “as people have realized its futility and adverse effect on their image and economy”.
He also cited NIA raids as one of the reasons for reduction in incidents of stone-pelting in Valley. “In March and April, there was heavy stone-pelting but then the stone-pelting incidents slowed down and reduced,” the IG said. The top paramilitary however termed the occurrence of stone-pelting at encounter sites a cause of concern for security agencies.