SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 7: Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar on Thursday said that 28 civilians were killed by militants this year.
Of them, five persons were from local hindu/sikh community and two others non local labourers.
He said that militants have started targeting unarmed policement, innocent civilians and politicians as their handlers sitting across the border were frustrated in view of the killing of a huge numbers of militants of all outfits especially their leaderships, destruction of their support structures and continuous and effective maintenance of law and order.
They have now changed their strategy and started targeting innocent civilians from minority communities including woman.
In all these cases, militants have been using pistols.These acts are committed by newly recruited militants or those who are about to join militant ranks, he said. In some cases, OGWs have been found directly involved, he added.
Pointing out that Jammu Kashmir Police is working hard identifying all such part-time/hybrid militants, he said strictest action shall be taken against them. ““We have received several leads and are working on it, he said, adding we have also been launching operations along with other security forces.
He appealed to general public specially minority communities not to panic. We have been maintaining peace and secured environment and will continue to do so, IGP added.