Jammu and Kashmir: Overall situation little fragile but under control, neutralising terrorists our aim, says Lt Gen AK Bhatt

General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based Army's 15 corps Lieutenant General AK Bhatt on Saturday spoke on the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir and said that the overall situation is a little fragile but alright. The GoC of Army's 15 corps said the main aim of the Army has been to neutralise terrorists.

Bhatt's statement comes a few days after the killing of BJP state Secretary Anil Parihar and his brother on Thursday night in Kishtwar district.

Refusing to speak on Kishtwar, which is in Jammu, Bhatt said he wouldn't want to talk about it but said in Kashmir the situation is under control. 

Speaking on the recruitment of local youth in the terror outfits, Bhatt said that the recruitment has been persistent since the last 1-2 years. He, however, added that in the last two months a slight drop in recruitment has been noticed. 

"Overall situation is a little fragile but alright. I wouldn't like to talk about Kishtwar but in Kashmir, overall situation is under control. We're neutralising terrorists which is our main aim. Matter of recruitment (in terror outfits) of local youth has been persistent since last 1-2 yrs but in last 2 months we've seen slight drop in it. We believe that youth of Kashmir will follow right path and there'll be even lesser recruitment," said Bhatt.

The situation in Kishtwar remained tense as curfew continued for the third day on Saturday which was imposed after the killings, police said.

The Army carried out a flag march in the curfew bound areas of Kishtwar while the police and paramilitary forces were deployed in Bhaderwah and parts of Doda districts.

Jammu and Kashmir`s Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said the situation was peaceful in the area. He also said communities have shown solidarity and maintained harmony in Kishtwar.

Singh said that there were some leads in the investigation suggesting that the murder of Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit was carried out by militants.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Additional Superintendent of Police Kishtwar has been set up to probe the murders. The cremation of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and his brother took place on Friday. It was attended by MoS PMO Jitendra Singh and all other BJP leaders of the state.

A complete shutdown was observed on Friday in the Chenab Valley against the killings. Anil and Ajit Parihar were returning home on Thursday evening after closing their stationery shop when unidentified gunmen fired at them in Tappal Gali area of Kishtwar town. Both died on the spot.

Authorities have also suspended mobile Internet services in Kishtwar and other sensitive areas of the Chenab Valley. In Jammu city and other districts of the Jammu region, the speed of mobile Internet has been brought down to prevent uploading of inflammatory pictures and posts by anti-social elements.