J&K DGP echoes Rawat: 'De-radicalisation centres in Kashmir will be a good move'

Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh Monday said terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen was on the verge of being wiped out from the south Kashmir region. He added that if de-radicalisation camps do come up in Kashmir, it will be a "good sign", as it will help people who have "gone astray".

On Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat had said that "girls and boys as young as 10 and 12 are now being radicalised" in Kashmir, and that those who are "completely radicalised" need to be "taken out separately" and put in de-radicalisation camps".

Responding to a question on this, Dilbag Singh said, "If any such facility comes up in Kashmir that will be a good sign, it should happen. It'll definitely help people, especially those who have gone astray".

"If some sensible kind of arrangement is made where good people from the civil society and experts who deal with the subject and relevant aspects of religion and other things… I think that will be a good development. That kind of thing should be welcomed," Singh added.

Addressing the media about an encounter that took place in Shopian earlier in the day, Singh said Hizbul Mujahideen was on the verge of being wiped out from south Kashmir.

"Today in Shopian, we neutralised three terrorists. One of them, their commander Wasim Ahmed Wani, was active since 2017 and was on a top position in Hizbul Mujahideen. He had 19 FIRs against him and was also involved in the killing of four civilians and four cops," he said.

"Hizbul Mujahideen is on the verge of being completely wiped out in South Kashmir," Singh added.

Refusing to comment on J&K Deputy Superintendent Davinder Singh, the DGP said the case has been transferred to NIA and is being investigated in the right direction.

"That case (of J&K DSP Davinder Singh) has been transferred to NIA, it will not be right for me to make a comment on it. Some findings have come out, they are before NIA. His custody is being given to the investigating agency. It is being investigated in the right direction," Singh said.

On Monday, three Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a police deserter, were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

One of the slain militants has been identified as Adil Ahmad, a special police officer who had deserted the force in 2018, and decamped with seven AK assault rifles from the official residence of then MLA Wacchi Aijaz Ahmad Mir from Jawahar Nagar area of Srinagar.

(Image and Inputs from The Indian Express)