Central Reserve Police Force Director General RR Bhatnagar on Wednesday claimed that stone-pelting incidents in the Kashmir Valley had reduced drastically this year, reported PTI. Bhatnagar said that while there were 1,590 such incidents in the Valley in 2016, this year the figure till now stands at 424.

Bhatnagar credited the security forces and investigation agencies for the reduced number of stone-pelting incidents. “Why or how has this happened?,” asked the director-general. “I would say it is a complex phenomenon...it is a mix of everything. It is a mix of what the National Investigation Agency is doing, it is a mix of the state police and security forces’ control. Hence the efforts of the law-breakers, stone-pelters and violent mobs are effectively blocked and pelting has gone down,” Bhatnagar told reporters during the CRPF’s 78th Raising Day celebrations.

Bhatnagar further added that the CRPF was coordinating with the NIA to crack down against separatists and their funding. He added that the use of less lethal weapons like pump action guns had reduced casualties among troops.