MHA deputes top brass to study situation in Valley
Strategy to be evolved to counter targeted attacks
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 18: Concerned over series of attacks on police personnel, the latest one being on police bus in which three cops were martyred and attempts by the militants to indulge in targeted killings of outsiders and minorities, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has deputed National Investigation Agency (NIA)-cum-Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General Kuldeep Singh to Kashmir while more top officials of various para-military forces will reach the Valley shortly to study the situation and take appropriate steps to counter the terror attacks.
While Kuldeep Singh, who holds charge of both NIA and CRPF Director General reached Srinagar today, other top officials of para-military forces will be reaching Kashmir shortly to devise strategy to counter fresh threats posed by the militants including Pakistanis and counter the attacks which are mainly aimed at targeting Jammu and Kashmir Police, minorities and outsiders. However, no major attack on minorities and outsiders has been reported during past some days but attacks on the cops have increased.
“The DG NIA and CRPF is likely to interact with top officials of Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and other security and Intelligence agencies engaged in anti-terror operations. He is expected to stay in the Valley for couple of days to study the situation and devise strategy in coordination with other security agencies to counter the terror attacks,” sources said, adding senior NIA officers are also camping in the Valley.
The Union Home Ministry is planning to depute top officers of multiple para-military forces and Intelligence agencies to Kashmir shortly on the same mission to interact with their Jammu and Kashmir officers and local police and formulate strategy on neutralizing the militants well before they could target police, security forces and civilians again in the Valley.
“All security agencies dealing with militancy in the Kashmir valley including Army, BSF, CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir Police and Intelligence agencies will be involved in evolving joint strategy to counter threat posed by the militants including some Pakistanis. Focus is on neutralizing the militants before they could strike at the targets assigned to them from across the border,” sources said.
They added that the top officials from different para-military forces being deputed to Kashmir for interactions with security forces operating on the ground come with rich experience of having worked in insurgency-hit North Eastern and Naxalism-affected States. However, their stay in the Valley will be for a brief period.
It may be mentioned here that in October also when the militants had indulged in targeted killings of minorities and non-locals, the Union Home Ministry had deputed top anti-terror experts to Kashmir to coordinate with local police and para-military forces. They had stayed in the Valley for a period ranging between 7-10 days.
In the previous attacks on civilians including minorities and non-locals in the Valley, security forces have eliminated all but one militants instrumental in engineering the attacks. However, they were followed by couple of attacks on police personnel. Recently, a police bus was targeted by the militants in which three police personnel were martyred while some others were injured. However, police had foiled a major attempt by the militants to snatch weapons of the cops with timely retaliation.
Previous attacks had killed a School Principal and a teacher from minorities, prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo and non-locals from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. All these killings have been worked out by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Sources were of the view that despite targeted killings–be they of cops, minorities or non-locals–security situation is now well under control in the Valley with the killing of many hardcore militants of different outfits including the top commanders who were either directly involved in such killings or had engineered them through their associates.
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