Terrorism on the rise in J&K, alleged Chinese links to attacks: Digvijaya Singh
Ujjain, April 21: Digvijaya Singh, a Congress veteran and Rajya Sabha MP, expressed concern on Friday over the rise of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, and referred to the recent attack on an Army vehicle that led to the death of five soldiers. He also raised suspicion over Chinese markings on the cartridges recovered from the site of the attack.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister stated that the Centre had claimed that revoking Article 370 and demonetisation would help in reducing terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
"A big attack took place in terrorism-free Poonch which is part of Jammu. Such incidents used to take place in Anantnag and Pulwana (in Kashmir Valley) now terror attacks have started taking place in new areas," he said.
Also Read: Poonch terror attack update: Army launches operation to hunt down terrorists behind this attack
Five Army personnel were killed and another was seriously injured on Thursday after their vehicle caught fire following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch.
The Army said the vehicle the soldiers were travelling in came under fire from unidentified terrorists and it caught fire because of the likely use of grenades.
"Cartridges recovered (in Poonch) have markings of China. This is a new thing that has come to light that such terror activities in India are seeing Chinese links," Singh said.
However, figures from the Defence and Home Ministries indicate that terror-related incidents have actually increased since these measures were announced.
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Singh highlighted that the attack in Poonch, Jammu was the first of its kind in the region and it was concerning. He also alleged that China had infiltrated the Indian territory, and that a Gautam Adani firm with a Chinese director had entered the defence sector, raising doubts over national security.
The Rajya Sabha MP added that 1,033 terror attacks have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir over the last three years, leading to the death of 177 jawans. He further stated that the number of terror attacks has been increasing, with 594 incidents in 2019 and 244 in 2020. He concluded that these attacks were a cause of worry and India was losing its soldiers.
- With inputs from agencies
