People told to stay away from encounter sites: J&K Govt

​Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has issued an advisory asking the public to stay away from encounter sites.

The government has decided to impose prohibitory orders in the radius of 3 km from sites of encounters between the security forces and militants.

The action by the Jammu and Kashmir government comes a day after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned of tough action against those hampering counter-insurgency operations.

The Army Chief had said that the civilians who indulged in stonepelting during counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir would be treated as anti-nationals and jihadists and dealt with accordingly.

“Those who obstruct our operations during encounters and aren’t supportive will be treated as over-ground workers of terrorists.” General Rawat said.

In the wake of the Army Chief’s warning, clashes were reported from Nowhatta and Sopore areas on Friday. Soon after the prayers, hundreds of protestors gathered and raised pro-freedom slogans.

According to reports, protesters pelted stones at the security forces and waved Pakistan flags at them. The Friday protests at Srinagar’s Nowhatta have become a routine over the past few months.

“These terrorists who have now graduated to the villages, as we are conducting operations against them, we find that the local population is somehow not supportive of the actions of the security forces.

While our aim has been to conduct people-friendly operations, the manner in which the local population is preventing us from conducting the operations, at times even supporting the terrorists to escape… It is these factors which are leading to higher casualties among the security forces,” Gen Rawat said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has come out in support of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat a day after he issued a stern warning to civilians who obstruct military's anti-terror operations in Kashmir, reports India Today.

While stressing that the Army has a free hand in dealing with locals who help militants, Parrikar clarified that the Army did not treat "every Kashmiri on the street as a terror sympathiser."

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh on Friday appealed to all political leaders not to indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of security forces' morale.

Singh said it is high time that the nation should be made aware of the lowly politicking indulged into by some Congress leaders who have not only questioned the intention of the Army Chief's statement but also have gone to the extent of calling him hot-headed.