Present strength of terrorists in Kashmir lowest in last decade: Lt Gen B S Raju

New Delhi, Jan 17: Lieutenant General B S Raju, GOC, Chinar Corps, on Sunday said the current strength of terrorists in Kashmir was 217 which was lowest in the last decade.

Even as he said that "Pakistan's desire to send weapons and drugs through drones and tunnels was definitely a challenge. To deal with this, we were using some advance technologies including ground-penetrating radars to detect tunnels."

"About encounters, contact with terrorists is established at every 20-25 specific searches. During searches, we ensure that minimum inconvenience is caused to locals. Our troops are trained to respect local culture and religious sensitivities," Lieutenant General BS Raju said.

He also said, "When we got to know that terrorists are trapped somewhere, we ask them to surrender especially if they are locals. We call their family members if their identity is established. When all attempts fail, we go ahead and neutralise them."

He further said that "In Kashmir, Pakistan terrorists target security forces and civilians in crowded areas. They expect us to respond and cause more civilian casualties."

"They then use this as propaganda to tarnish our image and use social media to spread misinformation and attract new recruits," he added.

Furthermore, he said that "This year we were been able to reduce infiltration by over 70 percent in comparison to last year. Officers responsible for the area along LAC, have made adequate disclosures of the situation."

"On the LoC, we remain in full control & are prepared for all contingencies," he said, adding that "In the last 6 months, 17 of those who had joined terrorism came back. Presently, we're working with govt for a suitable surrender policy which definitely will work."