The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday warned citizens that their immovable properties may be attached if they give shelter to militants or their associates.
The process of attaching some properties in such cases has begun, the Srinagar Police said on Twitter. The police cited Sections 2(g) and 25 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as the legal basis for taking this measure.
Section 25 of the Act gives the power to an investigative officer to seize or attach a property if he believes that it may represent proceeds of terrorism. Section 2 (g) of the Act defines “proceeds of terrorism” as any property that has been obtained through a terrorist act or through funds traced to terrorism.
In 2021, a total of 182 alleged militants belonging to different outfits were killed in Jammu and Kashmir by security forces, according to the The New Indian Express. Out of these, 171 were killed in Kashmir, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh had said.
This year, security forces have killed 38 alleged militants till now, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
In several instances, the suspected militants have been killed in residential or commercial buildings.
On Thursday, Singh said that the police are taking preventive action wherever there are overground workers of militants or their support systems, according to PTI.
“The number of terrorists is decreasing but till the time there are guns or grenades, violence will continue,” he said. “A person carrying guns or grenades has the capacity to injure and kill people. Their number is decreasing every year, terror-related events are also decreasing, but killings still take place.”
The announcement by Srinagar Police was made in the backdrop of several instances of attacks by militants in the city. On March 22, a Selection Grade Constable, Amir Hussain Lone, was killed in a shootout with militants in Srinagar’s Soura area.
On March 9, militants shot dead Sameer Bhat, a panchayat head, at Khonmoh area near Srinagar. Bhat was a member of the People’s Democratic Party.
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