Anyone who picks up the gun in Kashmir will be eliminated: Indian Army

NEW DELHI: Sending a strong message to the misguided youth of Kashmir, Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, Corps Commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, said Tuesday that anyone who picks up a gun in Kashmir will be eliminated.

He appealed directly to the 'mothers' in Kashmirs to ask their children to not take up terrorism and surrender to the forces.

"Mothers have an important part to play in Kashmiri society," he said.


"I would like to inform that in less than 100 hours of Pulwama terrorist attack, we have eliminated JeM leadership in the valley which was being handled by JeM from Pakistan," Lt Gen Dhillon said.

"We were tracking the top JeM cadres ever since February 14. The Pulwama terror attack was coordinated by the JeM cadres in Pakistan and the Pakistan Army," he said.

On Monday's operation, the Corps Commander said it was the result of complete synergy between the Army, state police and the CRPF.

The Lt Gen also paid his respects to the men killed in action in yesterday's military operation in Pulwama where the top commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Abdul Rasheed Ghazi alias Kamran, was eliminated in a 12-hour-long encounter with multiple terrorists.

Answering a question about whether one of the two slain militants in Monday's operation was Ghazi, who masterminded and directly handled the Kashmiri JeM suicide bomber, the Corps Commander said: "So many Ghazis have so far come and gone.

The slain soldiers were identified as Major V S Dhondial, Havaldar Sheo Ram and Sepoys Hari Singh and Ajay Kumar. A head constable of the police was also killed. The injured included DIG (south Kashmir) Amit Kumar, who received a gunshot wound in the abdomen, and a brigade commander, who was hurt in the leg. All the injured are stable and are doing well said the Corps Commander.

(With inputs from IANS)