Over 8,000 AK series rifles recovered from militants in last 14 years, says J&K govt

Srinagar: Over 8,000 AK series rifles and nearly 10 lakh AK rounds of ammunition have been recovered from militants in the last 14 years in Jammu and Kashmir, government said on Tuesday. The security agencies have recovered 8,146 AK-47/56/74 rifles from militants from 1 January, 2002 to 31 December, 2015 during counter-insurgency operations, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who also holds the charge of Home Department, said in a written reply to a question in the Legislative Council. [caption id=“attachment_2806164” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] During the same period, 9.938 lakh AK-series rounds and 24,372 AK-series magazines have also been recovered, she said. The security agencies recovered 2,877 pistols and revolvers, 2,899 magazines and 38,688 rounds. Besides, 44 Uber Machine Guns (UMGs), 24 carbines, 673 RPGs, 6 general-purpose machine guns (GPMGs), 144 LMGs and SLRs, 76 sniper rifles, 698 rocket boosters and 181 rifles (.303) were recovered from 2002 to 2015, the chief minister said. She said 22 UMG magazines and 7,567 ammunition rounds, 141 LMG and SLR magazines, 16 carbine magazines, 7099 sniper rifle ammunition, 2700 .303 rifle ammunition, 347 belted ammunition and one telescope were also recovered in these years. The chief minister said that 20,158 grenades and hand grenades, 2,828 electronic detonators, 14,903 detonators, 613 Anti-Personnel Mines, 88 Anti-Tank Mines were also recovered from militants by the security agencies. During the 14-year period, 8947.25 kg of explosives and 6,871.6 kg of RDX have also been recovered during counter-insurgency operations, the chief minister said. The security agencies recovered 3,513 wireless sets, 434 binoculars and also 3,464 metres of cordex explosive, she said.