Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s “parenting rather than policing” instructions to the state police got a major fillip when an LeT militant of Tujjar Sopore surrendered. CM Mufti, who had recently appealed to J&K Police and the security forces to persuade the local boys to surrender rather than eliminate them, is upbeat about the development. Her government hopes that the Sopore surrender will encourage other local militants to surrender if they are caught in any encounter.
A senior police officer told this newspaper that under the new policy, police and security forces will try to persuade the holed-up militants to surrender rather than kill them on spot.
Giving details of the Sopore encounter, he said that the police waited for five hours to save the life of Omar Mir, a 26-year-old boy who had joined the militant ranks a few months back from Tujjar village of Sopore.
“The police risked not only the civilians and his mother, but also its own boys to save the local boy. It was the most difficult operation which became successful when the tearful mother of the militant assured him that he would not be killed,” the officer said. The village elders and the militant’s father also persuaded him to surrender. Omar was then immediately arrested by the J&K Police for interrogation. According to the police, this youth had crossed over for arms training in May 2016 and returned in October.
It is pertinent to mention that in the last few months of the Kashmir unrest, around 100 youths are reported missing from different villages of the valley, especially from South Kashmir. The police believes that most of them have joined the militant ranks. In a recent video which went viral, new Hizbul Mujahedeen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat had asked the youths to join the militant ranks only if they can come with snatched weapons from the police and the security forces. His appeal resulted in a lot of gun snatching incidents in South Kashmir.