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Farooq delayed Army action in Hilkaka: Gupta

NEW DELHI JULY 13. As controversy rages over the recent "Operation Sarpvinash" in the Hilkaka mountain region of Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre today blamed the former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, for ``delaying'' the full-fledged Army action against terrorists entrenched there for two years through his ``non-cooperation.''

The Army, meanwhile, carried out 40 small operations in the Poonch border district between 1999 and 2002 killing 618 terrorists, the Minister of State for Defence, Chaman Lal Gupta, told PTI in an interview here.

Commenting on the issue, four days after Dr. Abdullah claimed that he had been warning the Army about the presence of terrorists in Hilkaka since 2000, Mr. Gupta said his statement amounted to ``degrading'' the forces who were sacrificing their lives for the security of the country.

Pointing out that the Army had information about the terrorists and wanted to carry out a full-fledged operation, involving aerial sorties, he said, Dr. Abdullah was ``repeatedly asked at meetings with the Centre over the last two years to take the responsibility of restricting the movement of shepherds to the operational area.''

Dr. Abdullah, however, ``did not agree, saying he could not do so,'' the Union Minister said, adding that only the present Government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed backed the operation.

PTI

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