Over 5,000 preventive arrests have been made in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5 when the Centre abrogated Article 370, and 609 of them are still in custody, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Nobody has died in police firing since August 5, but 197people have been injured in law and order incidents, he said.
“With a view to prevent commission of offencesinvolving breach of peace, maintenance of the public order and activitiesprejudicial to the security of the state, 5,161 preventive arrests, includingstone pelters, miscreants, over ground workers, separatists and politicalworkers, were made since August 5, 2019, in Kashmir Valley,” the Unionminister of state for home said.
“Out of these, 609 people are presently under detentionand out of which approximately 218 are stone pelters,” he said in reply awritten question.
Among those who continue to be under detention include threeformer chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah andMehbooba Mufti.
Reddy said adequate security personnel are deployed in Jammuand Kashmir for augmenting the security of counter insurgency grid,strengthening the internal security and maintaining law and order.
“It has been reported by the Government of Jammu andKashmir that essential services are functioning normally in the Valley,”he said.
The minister said as per the report of the government ofJammu and Kashmir, since August 5, 2019, no person has died due to policefiring in law and order incidents.
“During this period, 197 persons have been injured inlaw and order related incidents. During the same period, three security forcepersonnel and 17 civilians have been killed in terror-related incidents while129 persons got injured,” he said.
Replying to another question, Reddy said the people of Jammuand Kashmir have suffered from violence and separatism supported from acrossthe border for the past many decades.
“On account of Article 35A and certain otherconstitutional provisions, the people of this region were denied full rightsenshrined in the Constitution of India and the benefits of various central lawsthat were being enjoyed by other citizens of the country. As a result, fulleconomic potential of the region could not be realised by the people of Jammu,Kashmir and Ladakh regions for the last 70 years,” he said.
The minister said after the declaration issued by thepresident under Article 370, based on the recommendation of Parliament andreorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territoryof Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh, all such aspects have beenaddressed and the people of Jammu and Kashmir can now realise full potential inall sectors of economy like in other parts of the country.
“Due to these recent decisions, certain precautionarymeasures taken initially have already been substantially relaxed. There is nospecific report received from the Government of Jammu and Kashmir regarding anynew losses on account of such preventive steps taken as a short-termmeasure,” Reddy said.
Under the Rs 80,068 crore prime minister’s developmentpackage announced on November 7, 2015, 63 major development projects in road,power, health, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, skill development sectors,etc., are under various stages of implementation, he said.
In addition to the above steps, many flagship schemes of theCentre, including the individual beneficiary centric schemes, are beingproactively implemented by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.