With hybrid militancy posing a new challenge to security agencies in recent months, Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh Friday said that it was a “strategic move” by Pakistan to shield the criminals.
But, he said, so far the neighbouring country has failed to provide cover to the terrorists involved in killings.
“Hybrid-terrorism is a well-planned strategic move of Pakistan where they want crime to be committed and criminal to go scot-free. In this type of faceless terrorism, hybrid terrorists kill people including civilians and policemen then go underground in a bid to give impression that they have done nothing,” the police chief told reporters after inaugurating a Women’s Police Station in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Singh, however, asserted that hybrid militancy was destined to fail as the police network was very strong to counter it. “The police have busted and exposed all such underground modules who were involved in the killings of civilians and policemen,” he said.
The word “hybrid” first emerged after militants believed to be affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), an affiliate of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT), killed two non-Muslim teachers inside the premises of a government school in Srinagar on October 7.
According to police, hybrid militants are not listed as militants, but radicalized and trained enough to carry out terror attacks and then slip back into routine life. As most of them are teenagers and highly motivated, they do not cross the border for arms training nor do they go underground to commit violent acts.
The J&K police chief said the impression that the police was only conducting anti-insurgency operations was wrong “and the fact remains that social crimes were also being dealt with.”
“Since terrorism has affected one and all in Kashmir, it looks like that police was focusing on handling terrorists only,” he said.
Singh added that the setting up of a women’s police station was a move to bridge the gap between police and women. “We will upgrade women police stations across Kashmir to provide breathing space to women. Such stations will also help deal with crimes against women to a large extent,” he added.