Nine Kashmiri Pandits killed since 2020: MHA

Says militant attacks decline from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021

Srinagar, Dec 14 : Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai Tuesday informed Rajya Sabha that nine Kashmiri Pandits have been killed by terrorists in Kashmir since 2020.

He also informed the House that there has been a “substantial decline” in militant attacks from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021.

Rai as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that among the nine killed, four Kashmir Pandits including a person belonging to Kashmiri Rajput community were killed in 2022, four in 2021 and one in 2020.

He said the government has a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also said there are various agencies and organisations which operate for the security of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the Ministry of Home Affairs incurred a total of Rs 2,814.095 crore as expenditure on security related expenditure on Police of Jammu and Kashmir between 2019 to 2021.

“Out of the total expenditure incurred during these three years, the Minister said 936.095 crore was spent in 2021, Rs 611 crore in 2020 and Rs 1,267 in 2019,” he added.

Rai said that the government has taken various measures to protect the lives of the civilians in J&K which include round-the clock nakas at strategic points, strict enforcement of the law against anti-national elements, intensified Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) to effectively deal with the challenges posed by terrorist organizations.

“Surveillance on persons who attempt to provide support to terrorists and initiate action against them, sharing of Intelligence inputs on a real time basis amongst all security forces operating in J&K, day and night area domination and security arrangements through appropriate deployment,” he said—(KNO)