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| Pangai residents, who tipped forces about movement of militants, now fear for lives | | | Bharat Bhushan
JAMMU, Sept 8: The handful of Pangai residents, who had Thursday last tipped forces about the movement of three armed militants in the village, are now living in a constant state of fear.
Pangai, situated close to the LoC in Nowshera, Rajouri, was Thursday bustling with routine activity when its some inhabitants spotted three armed militants in the periphery of a Government school. So that they do not disappear into the village hills, the locals wasted no time in bringing the matter to the notice of security forces located nearby.
The forces rapidly swung into action but their "seek and destroy" operation failed to yield any result as the militants remained untraced. While the forces were still said to be camping in the area, the militants were nowhere in sight.
This has become a cause of worry for the locals. "We now fear for our lives every minute of the day. The escaped militants may come back after the forces' withdrawal from the village to punish the informers," said Mohammad Sultan over phone from Pangai.
Sultan's apprehensions are not unfounded as this has been the militants' strategy from the very beginning. In the past over two decades of turmoil in the State, they have killed scores of police and Army informers to stop others from spying on them. This enables their free movement through the inhabited areas.
Sultan said people wanted to be the 'eyes and ears' of counter-insurgency (CI) forces, but in return, they wanted protection from militants. "Almost everyone of us will like to be an informer for the permanent return of peace to the State but if anyone of us is killed by militants at this stage, the people will stop sharing information with forces about their movement," he added.
Rouf said the first and foremost duty of the forces should now be to take steps for the protection of the people and keeping militants away from the villages.
When militancy was at its peak in the State, forces hardly found anyone who would tell them about the movement, or presence of militants anywhere in the villages, or in the forests. Now when the militancy was almost wiped out and the borders with Pakistan were fenced, the fear of ultras was almost gone. People were now voluntarily helping CI forces to take on militants.
So that this trend was not reversed, forces ought to maintain constant pressure on militants so that they always remain on the run, another villager opined.
When contacted, a senior police officer said a foolproof security bandobast would be made to keep the militants away from Pangai and its adjoining villages. |
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