CHANDIGARH: Haryana is feeling the pressure of militant activity following Army deployment in Punjab. The Haryana police are finding it difficult to cope with it because of limited resources both in terms of manpower and firepower. Besides, compared to Punjab, the security network in Haryana is inadequate to counter the challenge posed by militants.
The state government has sought deployment of about six companies of the CRPF in the militant infested districts to prevent the spill-over of militant activity from Punjab. The government has also acquitted the Center to provide sophisticated weapons to the state police. Four companies of commandos have already been deployed in the affected areas, while the government is hurrying through a plan to raise four more such companies to beef up the security.
The six “sensitive” districts in Haryana, where militants are believed to have struck root are Sirsa, Hissar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kamal and Kaithal, besides some parts of Jind.
Till late last year, there were sporadic incidents of violence as these areas were safe sanctuaries for militants. But lately they have started using their firepower to strike at their targets. They have also ambushed police patrols, particularly in Sirsa and Hissar, The killing of 14 persons in Sirsa last month has shaken the belief that militants would use places in Haryana only as safe shelters.
Though at least six militant outfits are said to be active in the state, the Panjwar and Zaffarwal groups of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and the Khalistan National Army (KNA) are dominant.Caders of these outfits have been in constant touch with their sympathizers and are also recruiting youth into their organizations.
MILITANTS WRIT: in Sirsa and Hissar districts, Sukhwinder Singh Patli and Jasbir Singh of the KCF (Zaffarwal) are in control while in the Ambala region itis Amrik Singh and Kulwant Singh of the Babbar Khalsa who wield influence. Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts are the base for the KCF (Panjwar) and the KNA.
Even as more security forces are being deployed in the affected areas, senior police officers here are in constant touch, exchanging information regarding militants, with their counterparts in Punjab.
The state police, in collaboration with the Punjab police, have been organizing raids on suspected militant hideouts in areas bordering Punjab almost daily. The combing operations aim at not only flushing out militants coming from Punjab, but also at identifying people who provide shelter to them.
In Hissar and Sirsa districts, over a dozen families have been rounded up for suspected links with militants, Pritam Singh of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force (BTF) was killed in an encounter in Jind district this week in a joint operation by the police. In Hissar district, the police foiled an attempt by militants to detonate bombs after recovering high-power explosive material from a militants’ hideout. The militants, however, managed to escape.
The intelligence network in these areas is also being strengthened. The director-general of police, Kalyan Rudra, is understood to have held a meeting of officers from different zones and directed them to step up intelligence,more police officers are being inducted in the affected areas for this task.
Meanwhile, the police have not achieved any breakthrough in the Sirsa killings though they claim to have identified the militants responsible.
In the meantime, three car-borne persons, armed with AK-47 rifles, created a flutter in Hissar recently when they stopped a bus near Ding village and checked the bus passengers.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 6, 1991
