Sixty militants trained in Pakistan have recently sneaked into the border- districts of Indian-held Kashmir, an Indian police official said on Sunday. “Infiltration is going on…. It has increased. As per rough estimates around 60 militants have infiltrated into Poonch and Rajouri recently,” Jammu Inspector General of Police, SP Vaid told reporters. Indian police, army and paramilitary forces are determined to scuttle the militants’ plans to escalate violence in Indian-held Kashmir, Vaid said, adding that in the past six months the security forces captured and killed 40 militants, out of which 16 were nabbed while 28 had surrendered. Those who surrendered included nine youths who were rescued while being sent to Azad Kashmir for arms training, he said. He said that 46 rifles and 138 kilogrammes of explosive material were recovered from the captured militants and their hideouts.
The police official said that Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were responsible for the Kulhand massacre on May 1, in which 19 people were killed. He said that those responsible – including two foreigners – had been identified, and a man identified as Khursheed Ahmad had been arrested in this connection and was being charge-sheeted in court. The remaining militants were hardcore militants, he said, adding that ‘meeting with them will take place during encounters’.