HEROIN IS NEW WEAPON OF MILITANCY IN J-K

BARAMULLA: Foreign mercenaries and young militants infiltrating into
the Kashmir Valley from across the border are being armed, besides the
sophisticated weapons, with a more lethal contraband: heroin.

"Of late, in addition to AK-47 and UMGs, militants are now carrying
heroin in polythene bags, with the stamp of Afghanistan on it," said
Baramulla range DIG Dilbag Singh. He said a number of foreign
mercenaries and Pakistan trained militants have been caught in Kupwara
and Baramulla areas carrying heroin.

"In Kupwara alone, four kg of heroin were recovered from militants
last month." Dilbag Singh said, adding over the past three months
several bags of heroin besides sophisticated weapons were recovered
during encounters with militants trying to slip into India.

Giving details of encounters, the DIG said in Karna sector six of a
group of 15 boys trying to cross over from Pakistan were killed; in
Rasiabad 12 Pakistan trained militants belonging to Albadar militant
outfit were killed; In Naugawar sector, five young militants were
captured and one was killed. Besides weapons, large quantities of
heroin were recovered from them, Dilbag Singh said.

According to security officials, between 150 to 175 young boys trained
in Pakistan are suspected to have crossed over into India till now
this year. More infiltrations are expected this summer as, officials
say, "the ISI is hell bent on proving to the world that unrest in
Kashmir is still on."

"With support to militancy turning lukewarm in the Valley, the ISI
guided militants are trying to lure the local youth with heroin and
drugs. Earlier, couriers and peddlers were utilised for heroin
smuggling but now young militants are being used for the purpose after
they are first turned into addicts," a senior police official said.

However, home ministry special secretary (Kashmir affairs) T R Kakkar,
after a week-end, two-day tour to review the situation, said in his
assessment the Valley was returning to near-normalcy.

"My feedback is that people in the Valley are consciously trying to
keep away from the militants. They have not yet shown their backs to
them (militants) but have stopped welcoming them," Kakkar told the
Times of India after meeting several senior police officials and local
people, including traders and businessmen, of Baramulla and Kupwara
districts.

To prove his point he quoted sub-division police officer (SDPO) Qadis
Khan as reporting that some 10,000 people, including school children,
taking to streets and angrily protesting after militants killed a
woman, her son and two daughters in Sopore last Monday. This, Kakkar
said, showed that local Kashmiris were getting sick of terrorism and
senseless killings.

However, Kakkar did not rule out militants staging violent incidents
or adopting newer techniques like luring people into their game-plan
through use of heroin and other drugs. This, then, explains the large
haul of heroin from the infiltrating militants.