Doda: The adversary across the border is using foreign mercenaries to create a fear psychosis among the people to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, police chief R R Swain said on Saturday. Swain, the Jammu and Kashmir director general of police, asserted that his force along with other security agencies is committed and determined to eliminate terrorism in the Union Territory.

Talking to reporters in Doda after promoting seven special police officers (SPOs) as constables for their exemplary bravery during a recent anti-terrorist operation in the Gandoh area of the district, the police chief said people are fully cooperating with the security agencies and it is a matter of time when the terrorists start getting eliminated.

Three foreign terrorists were killed in a gunfight in the Gandoh area of the Doda district on June 26. This was the first encounter in Gandoh in more than a decade.

Without naming Pakistan, Swain said, "Our adversary and enemy has posed a challenge, thinking that this is a border area and they can take advantage of it by pushing foreign terrorists to revive militancy by creating fear (among the people).

"They (foreign terrorists) are not in big numbers and we are fully determined to defeat them, like we have done in the past, with the help of other forces and cooperation of the public," he said.

The DGP, who was accompanied by Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Vijay Kumar and ADGP (Jammu zone) Anand Jain, said the foreign mercenaries do not belong to anyone and they also do not fall in the ambit of law.

"They are involved in mass killings, taking sheep without paying money and their aim is to create fear and force the public into submission and create disturbance. But it cannot be achieved because the people are with us and we will fight them out," the DGP said.

"Police and its security partners are fully determined and committed to defeating the terrorists with the active support of village defence guards, SPOs and commoners. It is only a question of time when they will start getting killed, and they will start getting eliminated," he added.

The DGP said, "The policy to fight the terrorists is already there and is old but we want to take it to a different level, like when there is an act of bravery on the part of police personnel to safeguard the public against terrorists, they will be honoured which will work as a morale booster for them."

He said the motive behind Saturday's function was to make the family, community and citizens feel proud of those who are working for the security of the nation and to felicitate the brave people.

On the deployment of newly trained border battalion jawans, he said their duty is to gather intelligence, react swiftly on getting any information about terrorists and coordinate with people to create an atmosphere where anyone trying to sneak into this side is apprehended or if he manages to get inside Indian territory cannot think of returning back safely.

"They will not be deployed on the front lines but they will work in villages and coordinate with VDGs and SPOs (for better working of the anti-infiltration grid)," he said.

Earlier, the DGP honoured a total of 32 police personnel, including two officers, for their crucial role in the recent encounter.

He also handed over promotion letters to the SPOs who have now become constables in the police department.

(With Inputs From Agencies)