Police launch crackdown on relatives, associates of Pakistan-based militants in Kashmir

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday launched a coordinated crackdown on individuals allegedly linked to Pakistan-based terrorists, surrendered militants, and other anti-national elements across multiple locations in the Valley.

Officials said simultaneous raids were carried out in dozens of locations in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district and central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The operation, police sources said, was aimed at dismantling the support networks that continue to sustain militancy through finances, logistics, and digital propaganda.

“During the operation, a number of relatives and associates of active Pakistan-based militants were booked under relevant provisions of law for their continued involvement in anti-national activities, including providing logistical support, circulating propaganda, and aiding recruitment,” a police official said.

Police also seized digital devices and other incriminating materials from several houses, which are now being examined for evidence of coordination with handlers across the border. “Many of those raided were already under surveillance for maintaining contact with active militants or their Pakistani handlers through encrypted platforms,” the official said.

The crackdown, part of a broader counter-terrorism strategy, comes amid intelligence inputs suggesting renewed efforts by Pakistan-based outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed to revive their networks inside Jammu and Kashmir through family members and sympathisers of former or slain militants.

A senior police officer said that the operation also targets “white-collar overground workers” — individuals who facilitate the movement of funds, shelter, and recruitment without directly engaging in violence. “We are tightening the noose on the ecosystem that enables terrorism to survive, from social media propagandists to local financiers,” he said.

Police have stepped up surveillance across several districts following reports of fresh attempts to push recruits through digital radicalisation and online messaging channels. The latest operation in Kulgam and Ganderbal, sources said, is part of an ongoing intelligence-based campaign to neutralise such hybrid and sleeper networks before they can regroup.