Police ‘inefficient’ in tackling terror, ‘love jihad’: BJP leader

Terming the J&K Police “indifferent and inefficient”, senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of J&K Nirmal Singh on Monday said that cases of “love jihad” and terrorism were rising in the mountainous Basohli and Billawar belt in Kathua district.

Singh, during a meeting with the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, under whose command the J&K Police comes, informed the L-G that there was an increase in cases of love jihad, drugs, terrorism and bovine smuggling in the Basohli and Billawar areas.

In a post on X, Nirmal Singh stated, “Met the L-G, Manoj Sinha, along with DDCs, Bikram Andotra, Neeru Rajput, Yuva leader Mohit Gupta. We discussed the rising cases of love jihad, drugs, terrorism and bovine smuggling in Basohli-Billawar and most importantly, the indifference and inefficiency of the local police in tackling these dangerous issues”.

Singh further stated that he impressed upon the L-G the necessity of raising the maximum age limit for aspirants appearing in the J&K Combined Civil Services examination for open merit.

Interestingly, the MLA from Billawar, Satish Sharma, downplayed the allegations levelled by Singh. Talking to The Tribune, Sharma said that there might be one or two cases of “love jihad”, but it was not a perennial problem in the region. “There was a case that is in my knowledge where a girl studying in Chandigarh came into relationship with a youth of another community. But only Nirmal Singh who made the claims can tell about the issue in detail,” said Sharma.

The MLA, however, agreed that cases of terror incidents had risen in the past and said there was a need to curb them.

Nirmal Singh had won from the Billawar constituency in the 2014 Assembly elections, after which he also became the Deputy CM in the BJP-PDP government.

The incidents of terrorism have increased in the Billawar area over time due to reported infiltration by Pakistani terrorists from the International Border in the plains of Kathua. These ultras then trek to the higher reaches from Billawar and other parts of Kathua through traditional routes.

Family members of three people who died under mysterious circumstances in Malhar of Billawar in March this year recently sat on a hunger strike, alleging that the police were delaying investigation into the matter. Locals had claimed that the three victims — Varun Singh (14), his uncle Yogesh Singh (32) and maternal uncle Darshan Singh (40) — were killed by terrorists.

Multiple encounters, in which Pakistani terrorists were killed, have taken place in the Billawar region in the past. Due to the dense forest cover, the area becomes a safe haven for ultras to move and hide.