Jammu: Ultras have adopted a three-pronged strategy to intensify militancy in Jammu,
including carrying out killings ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections to whip
up communal tensions, a senior police official warned on July 25.
"Militants, mostly foreign mercenaries, have adopted a three-pronged strategy to
bring the otherwise peaceful Jammu belt in the militancy map of the state under a
new game plan," Jammu zone IGP P L Gupta said.
Jammu has a population of over 16 lakhs, 93 per cent of whom are Hindus. It is also
the main financial backbone of the state.
Militants engineered their first attack on the historic Ragunath temple in April
2002 followed by the Kaluchak carnage in May and the recent Rajiv Nagar massacre as
part of this strategy, Gupta said.
"The killing of nearly 70 people of a particular community in these massacres was
aimed at creating communal violence and disturb tranquillity of Jammu," said Gupta,
who is looking after operations in the six districts, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Rajouri,
Poonch and Udhampur of Jammu division.
Not only would these massacres help terrorists in bringing Jammu on the terrorist
map but also serve to destabilise the election process, he said.
Gupta said security forces would have a difficult time to stop these attacks "since
a suicide squad member, who does not care for life, can do anything because his aim
is death and destruction".
The police official said while militants mostly targetted government establishments
in Kashmir division, they were attacking civilians in Jammu division to put pressure
on security forces.
He said local militants had mostly gone underground in Jammu division but foreign
mercenaries were very active.
"These mercenaries constitute 80-90 per cent of cadres in outfits like Jaish-e-
Mohammad, Lashker-e-Toiba, Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami, Hizbul-Mujahideen-Pir Panchal
regiment and Hizbul Mujahideen operating in these areas," he said.
"They are particularly brutal and mutilate their victims' bodies," he added.
PTI
