Curfew continues in Kishtwar, Doda, Bhaderwah; Army stages flag march

3 SSPs deputed, SIT set up, AK shell seized
Assailants conducted recee, followed movement before killings
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 2: Curfew remained imposed in Kishtwar, Doda and Bhaderwah towns while prohibitory orders were in force in Ramban and Batote towns following tension in the wake of killing of prominent BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar by the suspected militants last night while police today constituted a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the killing.
The Government has deputed three SSPs including Manohar Singh, Sandeep Singh Wazir and Faisal Qureshi to Kishtwar to help in restoration of normalcy in the town amidst highly surcharged atmosphere in the town, where people defied curfew restrictions after the cremation of Parihar brothers and held massive protest outside Dak Bungalow denouncing civil and police administration for taking no pro-active measures against revival of militancy in Kishtwar, leading to the killings of BJP leader and his brother.
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Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu Zone, Dr SD Singh Jamwal told the Excelsior that investigations were on to trace the killers and nab them. He said a SIT headed by Additional SP Kishtwar, Perbheet Singh has been set up to look into all aspects of the killings and investigate the case expeditiously. The SIT has already started its job, he said, adding it comprised local police officials.
Three SSPs-Manohar Singh, Sandeep Singh Wazir and Faisal Qureshi-deputed to Kishtwar met cross sections of people and called for maintenance of peace and tranquility in the town to help police investigate the case properly to reach to the accused. They met people separately and sought their support in restoration of peace.
Excepting protests by the people after cremation of the Parihar brothers, situation by and large remained peaceful in Kishtwar, sources said, adding the protesters dispersed peacefully after indulging in massive sloganeering against Pakistan and the administration.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma said curfew will continue in Kishtwar and Doda till complete normalcy is restored. By and large, he said, situation was under control though protests took place at number of places against the killings.
“The administration is keeping close watch on the situation, which is being reviewed after every few hours across the region. It was well under control in all the districts. In Kishtwar, we are trying to restore complete normalcy,” Verma said.
Curfew remained clamped in Kishtwar town and surroundings today and Army was deployed in sensitive areas to maintain law and order. Para-military and police personnel were also deployed in strength.
However, after the cremation of Parihar brothers at about 4 pm, large number of people defied curfew and marched towards Dak Bungalow shouting slogans against police and civil administration, blaming their soft approach, for the killings. They also raised anti-Pakistan and anti-militancy slogans.
The protests continued for about half an hour after which the mob dispersed peacefully.
“No violent incident was reported from any part of the district today,” police said.
Curfew, which was imposed in Kishtwar town last night, continued today while Army staged flag march to restore confidence among the people. Besides Kishtwar town, curfew was also imposed in some of the surrounding areas in anticipation of trouble.
There was strong resentment among the people against the selective killings, which took place in Kishtwar after several years.
Entire top brass of the BJP including Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Lok Sabha member from Kishtwar, State BJP president, Ravinder Raina, Kavinder Gupta, Jugal Kishore, Ashok Koul, Chander Prakash Ganga, Narinder Singh and local MLA, Sunil Sharma joined cremation of Parihar brothers and met local people.
Dr Jitendra Singh demanded probe into the killing of Anil Parihar covering deeper conspiracy and all angels involved. He hoped that the inquiry will be ordered and completed as early as possible. He assured full support to the people and assured them that their all issues will be addressed.
BJP MLA from Kishtwar, Sunil Sharma, former Minister said in Kishtwar that the administration had been forewarned over attempts to revive militancy in the district.
“It was not only Hizbul Mujahideen but even Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was trying to gain foothold in Kishtwar district. We had briefed the administration and even gave some names of the persons, who were required to be grilled and booked to check revival of militancy but nothing was done,” Sharma said.
Sources said even Anil Parihar himself had met and briefed police officers about threat to his life as well as revival of militancy in the district.
Sources said the suspected militants, who executed the killings, were believed to be locals though there has been no lead with police so far about their identity. However, it was certain that the suspected militants had conducted recee of the area and were well versed with his movement to house after closing his stationery shop in the town around 8.30 pm regularly.
“The possibility of involvement of third person, who might have sounded the suspected militants about closure of shop by Parihar, return of his PSOs to house (from the shop) and their movement towards the house, is not ruled out,” sources said, adding the militants were already waiting for the Parihar brothers in narrow by-lane in the darkness around 8.45 pm and opened firing on them from very close range with pistols targeting their heads, killing them instantly. The two militants fled from the spot.
However, an empty bullet of AK rifle was also recovered from the site of firing, which has added to the mystery as pistols rounds had been used in the killings.
Police said investigations started only late this evening as they were busy with law and order problem during the day.
Mobile internet services remained snapped in Doda and Kishtwar districts while speed of internet was slowed down to 2G in other districts of Jammu region as a precautionary measure.
In Doda district, curfew was imposed in Bhaderwah town last night while it was clamped in limited areas of Doda town including areas covered by motorable road this morning. The interior areas of Doda town were free from curfew.
SSP Doda Shabir Ahmad Malik said Army staged flag march in Bhaderwah while it was kept standby in Doda town.
People held peaceful protests against the killings of BJP leader and his brother at Thathri and Prem Nagar in Doda district. They dispersed after the protests.
In Ramban district, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were imposed in Batote and Ramban towns. However, there was no report of any untoward incident in any part of the district. Youth held peaceful protest in Batote for some time against the killings.
SSP Ramban Anita Sharma and Additional SP Ramban Sanjay Parihar held inter-actions with the people and urged them for peace.
Traffic plied normally on Jammu-Srinagar and Batote-Kishtwar National Highways.
Meanwhile, authorities said, Class 10th examination will be held as scheduled in Kishtwar and other curfew bounds areas tomorrow. Roll Number slips of the students will be treated as curfew passes, authorities said.
Bid to derail
peace: Jaitley
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today condemned the killing of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother and described it as an attempt to derail peace process in the region.
“Killing of BJP State Secretary Anil Parihar and his brother in Kishtwar is an act of cowardice. This is an extremely deplorable act. This is an attempt to derail the peace process in the region. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Parihar,” Jaitley tweeted.
Yesterday, BJP president Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh besides a host of leaders from various political parties had condemned the killing of Anil Parihar and his brother.

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