'Parents should appeal to children to shun militancy'

Jammu: Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar asked the parents of newly-recruited militants in the valley on Sunday to make continuous appeals to their children to shun the path of violence and not confine themselves to the last appeal.
"Parents should make continuous appeals to the newly-recruited terrorists to return. The appeals should be made regularly. The parents should not confine themselves to the last appeal when their children are trapped in an encounter," he said.
The IGP's remarks came after security forces made fervent appeals to militants trapped in an encounter in south Kashmir's Shopian district to surrender on Saturday. Three militants were killed in the encounter -- one on Saturday and two on Sunday.
A police official said the forces exercised maximum restraint and facilitated the presence of family members of a holed-up militant, Faisal Gulzar, at the encounter site so as to persuade him to surrender.
However, despite repeated appeals by his family members and assurances by the security forces, the other militants did not allow him to surrender, the official said.
Police sources said Gulzar was a minor and had recently joined the militant ranks.