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on Excelsior Youtube channel
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, June 26: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that Pampore like attacks are aimed at defaming Kashmir and keeping tourist and investors away from the State.
Speaking to the reports on the sidelines of wreath laying of CRPF jawans killed in the Pampore attack yesterday, Mehbooba said: “As a Muslim I feel ashamed. This is a fasting month when people should be seeking forgiveness and expiation for past sins. This is the time when we should be making sure not to hurt others. This kind of attack where you are affecting families by snatching their bread earner is condemnable”.
The Chief Minister said nothing can be achieved through such acts. “Nothing can be achieved by this…. We are only defaming Kashmir and the State by these acts. We also deal a set back to the religion we practice,” she said.
Mehbooba said targeting security forces personnel who were only doing their duty is “condemnable”. “These jawans were on their way to duty. I feel this type of attack is condemnable. We, the people of Jammu and Kashmir, are the worst sufferers of such type of attacks”, she said.
The Chief Minister said the militants are also giving a setback to tourism of Kashmir. “People from many countries have started arriving but this would send a wrong signal about the situation here,” she said.
Mehbooba said such attacks also deprived Jammu and Kashmir from its share of development witnessed in the rest of India. “Today there is atmosphere of development. India is attracting lot of investments in infrastructure development and healthcare but when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir, the investors shy away because of these incidents. The worst sufferers of these attacks are people of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.
Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar said the attackers were neutralised due to alertness of the jawans and intelligence inputs. “It is a desperate act by the terrorists. You must have seen over the past few days the attacks at Anantnag, Bijbehara and Pampore, these are desperate acts. Over the past six months, many terrorists and their leadership have been eliminated and they are now acting in desperation to show their presence,” he said.
“The CRPF personnel were returning after doing their duty and in such cases they become sitting ducks. In earlier attacks, the militants managed to escape but yesterday, our jawans were alert, there were intelligence reports which led to neutralising of terrorists. They could not escape,” Kumar said.
Asked if there was any militant involved in yesterday’s attack on the loose, the DGP said:”We are investigating the case. We are looking at all possible angles and links and we will get them, we will get the perpetrators to the book.”
On the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra which begins on July 2, Kumar said, “We will take all steps necessary for safe and secure environment for smooth conduct of the yatra.”
On infiltration of militants from across the Line of Control, the DGP said while “some infiltration has taken place, JK Police and security forces are all prepared and geared up to handle any sort of situation”.
Special Director General of CRPF, PVK Reddy, said that he has put his entire force on alert. “We have kept our forces on alert. Everybody is geared up to meet any eventuality”, he added.
Reddy said that the force will deploy parties at vantage points on the highway and conduct operations in the hinterland against the militants and will not allow them to come near the highway.
On Pampore attack, the CRPF DG said that these incidents do happen in a hostile environment. “Our jawans fought valiantly and neutralized two terrorists. Five jawans are in ICU and rest are out of danger”, he added.
Earlier, Chief Minister visited CRPF Centre at Humhama, on the outskirts of Srinagar, to pay homage to the slain CRPF personnel. She laid ceremonial floral wreath on the mortal remains of the CRPF personnel killed in the attack.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, Minister for Health and Medical Education, Bali Bhagat, Minister for Forests, Choudhary Lal Singh, Minister for Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Abdul Ghani Kohli, Minister of State for Tourism and Education, Priya Sethi, Legislator, Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar, Chief Secretary, B R Sharma and Director General of Police, K Rajendra Kumar also laid the wreath at the mortal remains of the slain CRPF personnel.
The Chief Minister expressed solidarity with the Special Director General CRPF, who was present at the wreath-laying ceremony. She also expressed solidarity with the families of the deceased CRPF personnel and prayed for peace to the departed souls. “My heart goes out to the families of the CRPF men killed in the gruesome attack,” she said.
IG Police Kashmir, Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani, IG CRPF, DIG Police Central Kashmir Range, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, Deputy Commissioner Budgam, Altaf Hussain, SSP Budgam Fayaz Ahmad Lone and other senior officers of the civil and police administration were present.
Dr Nirmal Singh later visited the CRPF jawans, who are undergoing treatment at the base camp in Badami Bagh cantonment.
The Deputy Chief Minister while interacting with the injured jawans told them that the whole of the nation is with them. He also reaffirmed the Government’s resolve to deal with elements of subversion and destruction.
Later, he held a meeting with the senior Army officers and discussed the prevailing security scenario.
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