As Kashmir Goes Under Governor's Rule, DGP Says Ops Against Terror Will Intensify

Srinagar: Operations against militants in Kashmir would be intensified in the coming days, Director General of Police SP Vaid said here on Tuesday as the state headed for a spell of governor's rule.

"I am sure things should work very effectively and it will have an impact on the security situation in the Valley," he said, adding that counter-terrorism operations were stopped only during the just-ended period of Ramzan.

"They were going on earlier also, but we will intensify these operations in the days to come. And it would be, I think, much easier to work," the Jammu and Kashmir police chief said when asked if governor's rule would make a difference.

Vaid said militant activities increased during the period the security forces suspended the operations.

"But we will go all out and intensify operations against the terrorists now," he said, adding that the suspension of operations had an impact in the fight against terrorists as they were at an advantage.

"The orders were to maintain a high alert in the camps so that if the camps were attacked, we are able to retaliate effectively. But one could not launch operations even when there was specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists. So that obviously was advantageous for the terrorists," he said.

Asked whether the period provided an opportunity to militants to regroup, Vaid referred to the fight against terrorism and said, "I think in terms of organizing, they had an advantage during this period. This job was never easy, it's always difficult and shall continue to be so."

On investigations into the killing of veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari, the DGP said the police would be able to crack the case within a limited period of time.

"We had constituted a SIT. DIG central Kashmir is personally monitoring the case. In fact, zonal IG Kashmir himself is taking updates on a day-to-day basis and there are important leads in the case, which I would not like to comment on at the moment," he said.

Similarly, he added that the terrorists behind the killing of Army jawan Aurangzeb will be brought to book soon. "We know those terrorists and we are after them and we will very soon get them. We are after their lives," the DGP said.