POONCH, NOV 23: Foreign mercenaries, who would earlier use the gun to get the locals in the border districts of Poonch an Rajouri to accede to their demands, have shifted strategy in the face of an unyielding populace. They are now trying to lure the locals with money, says General Officer Commanding, 25 Division, Major General V S Yadav.Yadav said the mercenaries brought with them plenty of cash from across the border. The army has recovered at least Rs 19 lakh from various militants killed in encounters the districts during the last four months, he added.Earlier, the militants would force people provide them food and shelter, besides acting as their guides, at gun point. This led to large scale resentment among the locals who had, of late, begun to approach the army with information against the militants.Senior army officials said the change in militants' strategy has been seen in the last three to four months. The Army recently recovered Rs five lakh in cash after an encounter with a group ofmilitants in Poonch district. It recovered Rs 2.5 lakh in cash from another group. Last month, the Army recovered Rs 2.5 lakh worth of travellers' cheques from the militants.While the troops and security forces said the militants were bringing in fake Indian currency, Maj Gen Yadav disclosed that most of the currency recovered in both the districts was found to be genuine.However, senior army officials said foreign mercenaries had not entirely succeeded in wooing the locals over. While the militants did offer the people money, they were also kidnapping and raping their womenfolk.However, many of the victims did not lodge complaints with the police due to militants' fear, the officials added.In addition, local and foreign militants were often engaged in tussles over money and kidnappings, the officials said.Often, local militants themselves passed on information on their foreign counterparts' whereabouts to the army, leading to at least 150 militants being killed in encounters near the Line ofControl in Rajouri and Poonch this year.The foreign mercenaries, Yadav said, moved about in groups of five to six, and had started coming down from the higher reaches of Pir Panjal with the onset of winter. This, he added, had led to an increase in the number of encounters with the Army. The casualties on the militants' side will increase when the Pir Panjal passes are closed due to snowfall in a couple of days, officials added.
