NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently received a report from the intelligence agencies suggesting a renewed attempt by Pakistan-based handlers to lure young residents of Jammu and Kashmir into crossing over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan, sources said on Monday.
The sources said the intelligence agencies have raised concerns over a possible attempt to revive terrorism in the Union Territory, which it witnessed in the 1990s, as the trend, which had in the recent past completely subsided, appeared to regain momentum.
The sources said, following the report instructions have passed on to the security establishment in J&K to launch a crackdown on such incidents and keep a close eye on the movement of people to and from the Union Territory.
Giving examples establishing the trend, in the report the intelligence agencies said that the recent attachment action by the Poonch Police of the properties belonging to Pakistan-based terror handlers Rafiq Nai and Jamal Lone, both accused of facilitating infiltration and encouraging locals to cross over to PoK, which is indicative of such movements.
It is learnt that Lone had himself crossed over into PoK earlier and has since then been involved in anti-India activities, the sources said, adding that Pakistan’s security establishment has again been seeking to increase the crossing over by the J&K youth, who are in turn trained and engaged in a range of illegal activities.
“These individuals are being used for narcotics smuggling, counterfeiting and to assist terrorist groups by becoming guides for them in the Union Territory,” a source said, adding that Pakistan's state and non-state actors are actively looking for terrain-savvy locals to support their nefarious design.
According to the sources, many of those, who crossed over in earlier years, later regretted the decision and sought assistance from Indian authorities to return and in several cases India facilitated their return and placed them in rehabilitation camps before reintegrating them into mainstream society.
It is also learnt that the intelligence agencies have cautioned the government that if such elements are left unchecked, the renewed drive to rope in J&K youth could pose serious security threat, as unlike earlier instances, which mostly driven by economic consideration, the present trend is relying more on propaganda and radicalization by engaging vulnerable through social media outreach.