Despite multiple security agencies working overtime in Jammu and Kashmir, the infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan has increased substantially since the abrogation of provisions of Article 370, according to the latest government data accessed by this newspaper.
In August — when J&K’s special status was scrapped — as many as 24 terrorists managed to infiltrate, more than twice the number compared to last August when only 10 terrorists could sneak into India. An analysis for the month of August shows that the number of infiltrations was the highest in the last four years.
In the same month in 2016, 15 terrorists managed to enter India. It stood at 14 in 2017 but came down to 10 last August. The total number of infiltrations in the last three months rose to 44 from 38 in 2018.
A senior security official said that Pakistan’s review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) led to a reduction of terrorist activities and movement along the border between May and July but were stepped up again in August. This argument is backed by data that shows that there were 15 infiltrations in July and none in June this year.
While July 2018 saw 10 infiltrations, June 2018 recorded highest infiltrations in the entire year with 38 terrorists entering J&K from across the border. Infiltrations in September (15) and October (5) show a marginal dip when compared last year during the corresponding period.
Last year, 18 and 10 terrorists managed to enter India in September and October.
In 2018, a total of 328 infiltration bids were made by terrorists out of whom 143 succeeded.
Forces had identified over 20 entry routes along the Indo-Pak border in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370. Sources said the increased infiltration indicates that militants may have found new routes to enter the Valley.
Sources also identified an increased number of launch pads and terror camps of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as another reason.