Security forces have new mantra in Kashmir: Try to catch them alive

"Catch them alive" is the new mantra in Jammu and Kashmir as security forces, which have killed over 70 terrorists in the last seven months, shift gear to focus on finding new recruits and motivating them to return to their families, senior officials said.

The strategy of police and security agencies is to cut the "umbilical cord" by smashing the overground worker network, which is instrumental in radicalising youth and pushing them to jihad, the officials said.

"Our effort is to catch them alive and understand their grievances. After all, a 15 or 16-year-old boy can't be brainwashed to the extent that he would like to be killed in a gunfight. There has to be a counter-narrative," said a senior official engaged in counter-insurgency operations.

In the run-up to the Centre asking security forces not to launch operations during Ramzan, there was need to eliminate hardcore terrorists like Saddam Paddar, Esa Fazl and Sameer Tiger as they were the brains behind the fresh influx of cadres for Pakistan-based militant groups Lashker-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, officials said.

After the elimination of several top leaders, efforts are now on to change the script.

Operations based on specific intelligence inputs will continue but there will be also be increasing emphasis on catching newly-recruited militants alive, they said.

"We have got indication from our field intelligence that many desire to return. Some parents have also approached us and we have no hesitation in helping them resume their normal life and education at the earliest," a senior police official said.

Many officials, including those from intelligence agencies, believe the present cessation of hostilities may provide the much needed window to convince parents to woo their wards back to textbooks.

"In the last seven months, four new recruits have been arrested while one returned," said Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Swayam Prakash Pani, who has been closely watching the situation in the Valley and is using his experience as deputy inspector general in South Kashmir to tackle militancy.

The aim, he said, is to create a conducive atmosphere so that people can get over the cycle of violence.