J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Saturday said that 100 youth joined terrorism this year in Jammu and Kashmir but only 18 are active now as others have either been killed in encounters or arrested.

In his year-end media interaction here, the DGP said that among the 100 new terrorists, 63 have been killed and 17 arrested. The remaining 18 terrorists will be neutralized soon, he said.

He said that the year witnessed a drop in the number of the terror strikes and 2022 was the most peaceful year on the security front as compared to the last four years that saw the killing of 56 Pakistanis among 186 terrorists.

He said that the security forces recovered 188 AK series assault rifles, 275 pistols, 354 hand grenades and 61 ready to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were dropped by Pakistani agencies through drones.

However, most of these IEDs were recovered by security forces and only a couple were exploded by terrorists in Udhampur town and also fitted in buses but not much damage could be done, he said.

The DGP said that 14 policemen and 17 CRPF personnel were martyred during the year in terror incidents.

“Majority of the neutralized terrorists were affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad outfits,” the DGP said.

A huge number of misguided youths were brought back to mainstream by the police and the security forces. “Their number can’t be shared because of security reasons,” the DGP said.

Mission Zero Terror for 2023 is the new year resolution of police and the prime focus will be on wiping out the “terror eco-system wherever it exists in J&K.” The DGP said that 146 terror modules were busted this year. “Each module comprised 4 to 5 youths,” he said.

Replying to a question whether the Kashmir property of the Pakistan based global terrorist Syed Salahuddin would be attached like that of top separatists, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Shah, the DGP said: “The day is not far.”

He said that 55 vehicles and 28 houses were seized for being used to support terrorism. Similarly, 649 persons were booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for supporting terrorism, he said.

The DGP said that the police are acting tough against drug smugglers and peddlers. “1693 cases were registered and many modules were busted. 212 kgs of heroin, 383 kgs of charas, 12 kgs of brown sugar and a huge quantity of other drugs were seized in the year 2022,” said the DGP.

The DGP said that 29,834 cases of crime were registered in 2022. “Fast track case disposal system was followed. Year 2022 saw 2285 cases of crime against women,” he said.

He said that Pakistani agencies were using TRF to issue threats to minority communities in Kashmir. Those indulging in such activities will not be spared, he warned.