Amidst the sudden increase in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, the terrorists lodged in the jails here are being shifted to the jails of other states. On Saturday, 38 prisoners involved in terror activities were shifted from Jammu and Kashmir to Agra Central Jail. All these are prisoners who have not only encouraged terror in the Valley but have also helped them on a large scale.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday issued an order to shift 26 terrorists to Agra jail under Section 10 (B) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978. These 26 terrorists were lodged in 7 different jails of Kashmir. Of these, 6 were lodged in Srinagar, 5 in Bandipora and 5 in Pulwama, 4 in Budgam, 3 in Baramulla, 2 in Shopian, and 1 in Anantnag.
After this, a senior police officer of Agra Central Jail BK Singh said on Saturday that 38 prisoners have been shifted here. Of which 27 have come from Kashmir and 11 from the jails of Jammu. Earlier on October 19, some terrorists were shifted to Agra jail. So far 56 terrorists have been shifted. However, the administration has not clarified why this step has been taken.
Terrorist incidents have increased in Kashmir in the last few days. It is believed that the terrorists lodged in the jails of Kashmir have links with their sleeper cells. The recent terrorist incidents have also been carried out by similar terrorists in jail through sleeper cells. This is the reason why they are now being taken out of the valley and shifted to jails of other states of the country.
SP Vaid, former DGP and security expert of Jammu and Kashmir, says that this is a very important step. Such terrorists should be removed from Jammu and Kashmir and sent to other states. Due to this, their terrorist network will be weakened, terrorist incidents will be less.
Yes, such steps have been taken in the past also in terms of security. In the year 2019, at least 5000 people were detained during the removal of Article 370. Of these, about 300 people were under the PSA Act and were shifted to jails in other states of the country. In the second week of August, about 70 terrorists-separatists were shifted to Agra Jail. Earlier in April 2019, separatist leader Yasin Malik was shifted from Kashmir to Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Is there a danger of worsening the situation in the places where these terrorists are being shifted?
These terrorists are dangerous. Keeping in jails of other states is no less than a challenge. SP Vaid says that the network of these terrorists is limited to Kashmir.
They will not get support from other states. In such a situation, I do not think that it will become a problem for the jails there. They will weaken to a great extent. Terrorists have been successfully shifted to other jails in the past as well.
Absolutely. If sources are to be believed, a list of 100 such terrorists has been prepared, who will be shifted to jails of other states in the coming days. Of these, 30 terrorists are kept in the A category while 70 terrorists are kept in the B category. The security forces had expressed the threat of escaping from their jails.
Apart from Agra, terrorists can be shifted to jails in Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab. The jails of these states are more robust in terms of security. Even before big terrorists and criminals have been kept in Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Security experts say that these terrorists get local support in the jails of Kashmir. They easily transfer information from here to there and interfere in terrorist activities. He teaches the lesson of terror to the local youth of Kashmir. A similar thing had come to the fore in the Pulwama attack also. After which the administration had applied to the Supreme Court and demanded the shifting of 7 terrorists of Pakistan lodged in the jails of Kashmir to Tihar Jail in Delhi.
The network of these terrorists will be weakened after shifting them to jails outside Kashmir. After the abrogation of Article 370, statistics also testify to this. In the Rajya Sabha, the Ministry of Home Affairs had given a written reply that after the removal of Article 370, terrorist incidents have decreased by 59% in 2020 as compared to 2019. Whereas till June 2021, 32% fewer incidents have been registered as compared to 2020.
