New Delhi: Responding to the killing of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday directed security forces to launch a massive anti-terror operation in the region. Shah made the direction after a meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Arvind Kumar, Border Security Force Director General Prakash Singh, Central Reserve Police Force Director General Kuldeep Singh and other senior officials. Shah asked security agencies to intensify the probe to nab the culprits involved in the killing.
"The Home Minister has instructed all the security agencies to take all possible measures to stop the ongoing violence," said a senior home ministry official, privy to the meeting, on condition of anonymity. Intelligence officials present in the meeting said that Lashkar-e-Toiba offshoot The Resistance Force (TRF) might be involved in the incidents. The intelligence agencies have also been asked to make their intelligence gathering system strong.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Prakash Singh said that the incidents are being carried out to create anarchy and a sense of fear in Jammu and Kashmir. "When the government has taken strong action against militancy in J&K, the underground outfits with an urgency to create terror in J&K have started killing soft targets," said Singh.
Singh stressed on strengthening the intelligence network of government agencies. "There should be accurate and strong intelligence inputs over the activities of anti-India organisations. If we have a strong intelligence network, we could possibly stop a large number of incidents," said Singh. "In fact, any terrorist organization can recruit youths for killing. Earlier, they were recruiting youths for stone-pelting but now they might be recruiting youths for killing civilians," added Singh.
It should also be noted that two school teachers were shot dead allegedly by militants in Srinagar on Thursday. A little-known militant outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the two killings. Jammu and Kashmir Police said that TRF is an offshoot of the militant outfit, LeT.
The killings follow a day after a famous chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo, a Kashmiri Pandit, and a non-local vendor were killed in Srinagar. Bindroo was shot at his shop at Hari Singh High Street, Srinagar. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but later succumbed to injuries. In the second incident of the evening, a non-local vendor was killed near Madina Chowk in the Lal Bazar area. In the third attack within a span of few hours, militants allegedly shot dead a civilian in the Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
In fact, in the last few days, security agencies have recovered a huge number of arms and ammunition from different places of J&K. On Thursday, the BSF foiled a weapon smuggling attempt from across the international border in the Samba area and seized arms and ammunition including four pistols, eight pistol magazines and 233 rounds of live cartridges.
Also read: Two teachers shot dead in Kashmir as civilian killings spike in last week
