Summer unrest was fuelled by criminals, guerrillas: Kashmir Police

SRINAGAR - Dispelling the common notion, Jammu and Kashmir police Tuesday said the summer unrest in the Valley was fuelled by criminals and separatist guerrillas.

S.M. Sahai, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, told a local news agency Tuesday that criminals, timber smugglers and militants had spent a lot of money to trigger the over four month-long unrest in the valley last year in which 110 people were killed in clashes between unruly mobs and the security forces.

Had it been people’s movement, then police stations would not have been burnt nor would the identity cards of the cops been checked by anti-social elements, Sahai said.

Labelling as “brave” the recent statement of senior separatist leader Professor Abdul Gani Bhat about the murders of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, the IGP said, He was not explicit.

Asking the separatist Hurriyat conference to read the writing on the wall, Sahai said, It took them 28 years to make the facts about these two murders public.

Bhat in his statement earlier this month said that both the elder Mirwaiz and Lone were killed by the separatist guerrillas and not by the security forces, ruffling many feathers in the separatist camp.

Referring to the ongoing frisking operations in the city, the IGP said these were part of the security drill to ensure that separatist guerrillas were prevented from carrying out any attacks on the eve of Republic Day Jan 26.