999 J&K militants killed last year

JAMMU, FEB 6: Security forces killed 999 militants, including 51 on the Line of Control (LoC) in the State during last year. This was don...

JAMMU, FEB 6: Security forces killed 999 militants, including 51 on the Line of Control (LoC) in the State during last year. This was done by security forces in 948 encounters and operations in various parts of the State during the period, a police spokesman said. The spokesman said 1,228 militants were apprehended while 187 surrendered to the security forces. He said 529 militants were released after preliminary questioning and 457 booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and other laws.

While 128 persons were released under Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 88 were released on bail by courts and 526 by the Review Committee.Some 514 persons were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA). However, no fresh case was registered under TADA in 1998, he added. Pointing out that there were 1,181 incidents of militant attacks on the security forces, the spokesman said they gave hartal calls for only 25 days during the period.

The number of processions and demonstrationsalso came down to 12 in 1998 as against 564, when militancy was at its peak during 1992. He said there were 167 grenade attacks and 264 improvised explosive device (IED) explosions. Similarly, there were 22 rocket attacks and 95 incidents of random firing by militants in the State.

Story continues below this ad

There were 1,126 instances of cross-fire, the spokesman said, adding there were only 17 incidents of arms-snatching. Besides, 298 abductions and 46 acts of violence took place during the year, the spokesman said, adding that in all there were 2,932 incidents of violence during the year.

The security forces recovered 1,520 AK rifles, 584 pistols, 71 universal machine guns, seven light machine guns, seven 303 rifles, 24 sniper rifles, 140 rocket launchers and 293 rocket boosters, besides a huge quantity of ammunition during the period. They also recovered 5,883 hand grenades, 514 IEDs, 2,922 explosive devices.

70 anti-tank mines and 375 rockets.61 electric detonators, 5,511 detonators, 471 anti-personnel mines,