CHANDIGARH: The army’s Operational deployment against militants in Punjab is likely to continue till March next though MS strength has been reduced to about one-third of what it was on the eve of the February elections,
“I would not say how long but, at the outset, six months,” Lt Gen (retired) J.K.Puri, Security Adviser to the Punjab Government, Said at a news conference on Oct.1 in reply to questions about the duration for which the troops would help civil authorities fight militancy in the State. “We may be able to break the back of militants in this period. But the time is elusive,” he added.
He said 35 army brigades (three corps) had been deployed for anti-militancy operations in February. The present strength was about 10 brigades but more oops could be inducted if required, He said despite the elimination of a number of top militant leaders, some kingpins like Zaffarwal, Manochahal and Panjwar were still to be tackled. Pakistan’s involvement in the Punjab trouble continued and the ISI had been able to find fresh methods for tactical support and new routes for arms smuggling for militants. “It is not like a boxing bout against militants for a knockout. It is an ongoing battle with every help from the enemy from across the border,” the Adviser remarked.
Gen Puri said according to the new strategy, the army would have mobile teams to cover sensitive areas for supportive role in operation day-and-night dominance, The earlier expectations that ‘quick reaction teams’ (QRTs) of the troops would operate from the State’s 13 cantonments in aid of the civil had not come true as they were unable to act promptly beyond 30 km. The situation was reviewed on August 21 at Jalandhar when the Defence Minister, Sharad Pawar, came there for assessment and it was decided to maintain field presence of the army as before.
The Punjab police had raised four battalions of commandos who had been trained by the army to tackle militants and two more were in the making. He indicated that some reserve battalions funded by the Center and the State Government would also be available shortly.
According to him, Lt. Gen B.K.N. Chhibber, an erstwhile corps commander in Punjab and now Chief of Staff in the Western Command and K.P.S .Gill, Director General Police, had provided excellent leadership to the joint forces operations against militants. The Punjab police and paramilitary forces had now started acting on their own and recorded major successes in curbing their activities. It was because of a near perfect coordination between the who that the anti-militancy operations had gone on so well, he said adding that the unambiguous role of the Chief Minister, Beant Singh, in meeting the challenge was of utmost help. As a result of this, the militancy had been marginalized fairly effectively.
Citing examples of the security forces successes, Gen Puri said militants had been pushed back to defensive positions from their aggressive postures in November last year when they moved in groups of 30 and 40 armed with sophisticated weapons and killing at will, The trans-border movement was an easy affair for them and their writ in rural areas. The situation had changed now and the security forces had an upper hand and life had started returning to normal in towns and villages alike.
The Gen, said there was resurgence of confidence among the people, who were more forthcoming in their cooperation with the security forces.
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