160 terrorists killed and 102 arrested in J-K in 2019, decrease in local youths joining militancy: DGP

As many as 160 terrorists were killed and 102 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, while 250 ultras were still active, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Tuesday, noting that the number of local youths joining militancy has decreased.

He said that there is 30 per cent fall in terrorist incidents, less civilian killings and 36 per cent decrease in law and order incidents as compared to last year.

"218 such (local) youths joined militant outfits in 2018 but only 139 joined in 2019," Singh said at the annual press conference at police headquarters here.

Out of these new recruits only 89 have survived. "The rest have been eliminated as their shelf life is between 24 hours to 2-3 months after joining militancy. There are hardly few old terrorists surviving, which include Jehangir Saroori and Riyaz Nayikoo", he said.

There have been only 481 law and order incidents this year as compared to 625 last year, he said