Jammu and Kashmir police ruled out the major presence of IS in Kashmir, but asserted that efforts are on by anti-national elements to radicalise a section of youth.
Five days after Islamic State (IS) supporters stormed the historic Jamia Masjid to occupy the sacred pulpit and raise IS flags, Jammu and Kashmir police ruled out the major presence of IS in Kashmir, but asserted that efforts are on by anti-national elements to radicalise a section of youth.
"In the past, those (IS) flags have been carried and displayed publicly just to show that there is a very large presence of such elements. We will again say that their presence is not that big but the fact is that people are being radicalised on those lines and that cannot be denied," said Dilbag Singh, director general of police, Jammu and Kashmir.
Elaborating on the topic, he said, serious activity on the part of anti-national and anti-social elements is on to radicalise a section of the youth to every extent possible.
"Kashmir civil society as such has been a very open society, with a very secular culture, where we extend due respect to our places of worship and other things. Efforts (to radicalise) have been made in certain quarters and their fruition has been seen in the kind of activities we saw the other day (at Jamia Masjid)," he said.
Masked youth stormed the historic Jamia Masjid, unfurling Islamic State (IS) flags and briefly occupying the pulpit after Friday prayers before vanishing into thin air. Shouting slogans 'Daulat-ul-Islam' (Islamic State), one of the jeans-clad masked youths climbed the pulpit used by Moderate Hurriyat Conference leader and chief cleric of Jamia Masjid Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to deliver sermons on Fridays and important days of Islamic calendar.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police said 91 security force personnel, including 45 policemen, were killed in 2018.
"Some of our policemen were killed in their homes. Some of them were abducted and killed. Few of our policemen were killed in encounters. In addition, 46 security men were also killed taking the toll of security forces to 91 in 2018," he said.
A large number of civilians were also killed in 2018, of which, 24 were those who were killed by militants when they stormed their homes. "Some were killed in the most gruesome manner. Throats of some people were slit and some were pumped with bullets. It was filmed and put up on social media," he said
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