4 Hindu ultras killed in Kashmir militancy

Four ultras from the Hindu community have been killed during the two-decade-long militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior police official said as he asserted that their fight was not for ideology, but they were lured by "power of gun."

"So far four Hindu militant commanders of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen - Uttam Singh alias Saifullah, Kuldeep Kumar alias Kamran and Subash Chander Shaan and Bipin Kumar - were killed in 22 years long militancy in Jammu and Kashmir," IGP of Jammu Zone Dilbagh Singh said.

But, he rebutted claims of Hizb-ul that a large number of Hindus picked up guns due to ideological conviction.

"I did not see any ideological conviction in all these cases (Hindus boys joining militancy). I have gone through cases of 3 to 4 militants (Hindus) who have been killed. It is all absurd. Most of them forcibly picked up or were fascinated by power of gun," he said.

The official argued, "If gun can fascinate Muslim boys, it can fascinate Hindu boys as well... When they lift guns, they feel empowered, and womanising, extortion and dictating people become part of their life."