Indian security agencies have increased their operations against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir days before the country commemorates its 75th Independence Day, officials said on Friday.
Speaking to Sputnik, Vijay Kumar, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Zone, said it is not just Independence Day but with 5 August also approaching, the chances of unrest in the valley are very high.
On 5 August 2019, the Indian Parliament revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir accorded to the state for decades under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The special status used to guarantee significant autonomy for the Muslim-majority area, which now exists as a union territory.
"We have increased the cordon and search operations at sensitive areas in recent times and even today we have gunned down two terrorists including a top commander of Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in an encounter in the Sopore area", Kumar said.
He further mentioned that they are leaving no stone unturned to safeguard the Kashmir Valley.
"We have prepared a list of terrorists and are zeroing in on them. We have had success in recent times by gunning down several top commanders of proscribed terror outfits who have been hiding for years and even recruiting local Kashmiris".
The Jammu and Kashmir Police are continuously holding meetings with security forces and exchanging information on threats. They have increased their vigilance in border villages so that infiltration from the Pakistani side is stopped.
As per official statistics, the nation's security forces have managed to eliminate over 80 suspected terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
According to officials, most of the terrorists were affiliated with the terror outfit LeT followed by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.