Dip in locals joining terror groups, more efforts needed to check unfortunate trend: JK DGP

Srinagar, Jul 22 Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir Dilbag Singh has said that though the number of local youths joining terror groups has fallen from 85 to 69 this year, the ‘unfortunate trend’ continues to a certain extent and that more efforts from the society and agencies are needed to check it.

Singh highlighted the efforts of the police force to combat militancy and said Jammu and Kashmir has seen an overall decline in terrorism after the police cracked down on the network of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) by detaining 417 of them over a period of time.

‘That is an unfortunate trend as I see some amount of recruitment is taking place. It is 69 to be precise. But then if you compare it with the same period of previous year it was 85. You see a declining trend here but the fact is that certain recruitment is taking place. We are trying to address this problem by targeting the people who are responsible for luring the youth and radicalization of the youth,” he told PTI here.

‘But much more is required to be done from within the society and some other agencies which must be dealing with THE youth to see that they are away from the path of destruction and they are brought back to the positive activity and engagement. So, therefore, all concerned agencies of the government have to engage our vulnerable youth positively (and) more efforts are required to be put in,’ he said.

Without sharing details, Singh said there have been some heartening developments in this regard when a ‘very sizable number’ of youths who had left their homes to join terrorist groups were brought back.

‘Their number is 30 and they have since joined their families back…public faith in police is very heartening, anybody missing, public is reporting to police, especially parents reporting to police simultaneously to help them get their wards back is a very healthy trend,’ he said. PTI