Terror attack probe handed over to NIA, JKP to assist
*Unable to fly to Rajouri, HM speaks to victims’ kin on phone
*Security situation reviewed at high-level meeting
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 13: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today declared new action plans having 360-degree security net to wipe out militancy from Jammu region and strengthen Security Grid within three months as he announced that probe into Dhangri terror strike has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) while Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) will fully assist in the investigations.
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Shah reached here this noon and was scheduled to visit Dhangri to meet terror victim families but couldn’t fly to the border district due to bad weather conditions. Seven civilians from minority community, two of them minors, were killed on January 1 and 2 by the militants at Dhangri.
However, Shah spoke to kin of all seven persons who lost their lives in the terror attack on telephone from Raj Bhawan and assured them of all possible help besides stern action against the terrorists involved in the killings.
Shah held a high-level meeting at Raj Bhawan to review security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with main focus on Jammu region. The meeting was attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Home Secretary AK Bhalla, heads of CRPF, BSF, NIA, IB, RAW, Northern Command chief Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi and top officers of J&K’s Police and civil administration including Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Home Secretary RK Goyal and DGP Dilbag Singh.
Addressing a press conference at Raj Bhawan here before returning to New Delhi, the Home Minister said a 360-degree security net has been drawn (to root out terrorism). All security agencies assured this.
Flanked by LG Manoj Sinha, Shah said: 360-degree security circle will completely eliminate the support and information system of terrorists. The Intelligence agencies will also step up their activities. For the purpose, a strategy has been chalked out, he added.
He announced that Security Grid of Jammu will be strengthened on all fronts in time-bound manner.
“In next three months, the Security Grid will be strengthened. I assure people of Jammu and Kashmir that whatever be designs of militants, our security agencies will secure Jammu with all alertness,” Shah said.
He said two days back the probe into Rajouri terror strikes has been handed over to the NIA but the Jammu and Kashmir Police will also be fully involved in the investigations.
“ The NIA and Jammu police will jointly investigate this case. The investigation will proceed keeping in mind all the incidents of terror attacks that took place in last one and a half years,” Shah said.
The Home Minister said that following the policy of zero tolerance against terrorism under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi , all security agencies are fighting a decisive battle against terrorism.
“The Government led by Narendra Modi stands firmly with families of the victims (Rajouri terror attack) and is determined to help them,” Shah said, adding the affected families would be given benefits through various schemes of the Government. Along with this, all possible help will be provided by the LG with relief measures under his authority.
He said strengthening Village Defence Guards (VDGs) has nothing to do with the twin terror attacks in Dhangri on January 1 and 2 and that the decision to empower these volunteers was taken in August end last year.
“I came here to meet the victims of the terror attack in Rajouri and share their grief. The visit couldn’t take place due to inclement weather but I have talked to the members of all the seven victim families on phone,” Shah said.
The Home Minister said he heard them carefully while the Lt Governor was also present when he was listening to them.
“Their courage is an example for the country and all of them were of the view that this is our region and we will not leave (under terror threat). Some of them had come from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and they are upbeat in their mood to fight terrorists despite such a major incident,” he said.
Shah said he is not staying back as he was told that the weather is not improving in the next couple of days. “But I will definitely come again and meet them.”
He assured that the terrorists involved in the attack would be identified and will be brought before the court within the shortest possible time.
At the security review meeting, the Home Minister said they have a detailed meeting in which all security agencies took part and conveyed that they – Police, BSF, CRPF, SIA or Army – are 100 percent prepared to deal with any situation and stop such incidents in future.
“The meeting also discussed in detail the issue of Over Ground Workers, support system of terror groups and their informers,” he said.
In response to another question about the terrorist violence post abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, the Home Minister reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir recorded the lowest incidents of violence and deaths during the past three years.
“You cannot say anything on the basis of one incident or some data. If you want a whole picture, you have to take into account everything since the birth of terrorism till date. After abrogation of Article 370, the number of incidents were lowest and so are the deaths in the past three years,” he said.
About a query on minority killings, he said: “Security forces are giving a befitting reply to every plan of terror. J&K LG has taken a series of steps to protect the minority members as he has the powers to do so. If we go by the figures, minority killings are far less compared to previous years.”
At the security review meeting, top brass of security agencies gave their assessment of situation in Jammu and Kashmir with particular reference to Jammu region including steps being taken to prevent militancy from further spreading and crushing network of the Over Ground Workers (OGWs).
It may be mentioned here that five persons were killed and eight others were injured when two militants opened firing on three houses of minority community at village Dhangri in Rajouri district on January 1. Next morning, an IED planted by the militants went off outside one of the houses killing two minors and wounding eight others.
Dhangri families’ call for action against militants
The families of the terror attack victims at village Dhangri in Rajouri said Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured them that strong action will be taken against those involved in the civilian killings.
“Home minister talked to me over the phone. I requested him to catch the killers of my sons and ensure they get a strict punishment. He assured me that they would be apprehended soon,” said Saroj Bala, who lost two sons in the terrorist attacks.
Bala called for revenge saying the militants should be beaten just like her son Prince was thrashed by the ultras.
“We want NIA probe. Thirteen days have passed and nothing has happened so far,” Bala in whose house the Home Minister had to visit to meet kin of seven people killed at Dhangri, said.
Appreciating the Home Minister, Bala, who had lost her husband three years back due to cancer, said Shah assured her “your grief is our grief and I trust this.”
“Shah couldn’t reach Dhangri due to adverse weather but we treat his telephone call as personal visit,” she said.
Other persons to whom Shah too expressed confidence that the militants will be neutralised soon and action taken against their sympathisers.
Meanwhile, security forces are yet to make a breakthrough in tracking down those involved in the twin terrorist attacks in s Rajouri district as a massive cordon and search operation continues for over 10 days.
Over 60 people have been questioned by the police in connection with the terror attacks that left seven people dead and 14 others injured in Dhangri village in Rajouri, sources said.
To track down attackers, security forces are conducting a massive operation in Rajouri district with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Army leading the efforts and the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) assisting them in operations, they said.
The main areas where the operations are being conduct are in Kandi, Budhal, Kalakote, Dharamsal, the official sources said.
They said some operations have also been conducted in villages in Nowshera that are located ahead of the Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS).
The troops have also conducted operations in some villages under the Darhal police station limits, located just at foothills of the snow-covered Pir Panjal mountain ranges, the sources said.
Special motor vehicle checkpoints (MCVPs) have also been installed on all main roads in the district, the sources said.
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