KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
State Police Intelligence Chief S M Sahai on Saturday confirmed eight killings, including one who drowned, saying the day was “difficult” and “critical”. He said the security grid retaliated to a series of mob attacks on the police stations, garrisons, homes of politicians and the key infrastructure.
The most serious attack, Sahai said, was on the police station in Damhal Hanjipora where the mob set afire the building and looted the weaponry. “They used the same weapons against our men by taking 20 of them hostage,” Sahai said. “Three of them were injured and three are still missing.”
Sahai, who is apparently holding the fort as the state police chief is on leave, said the other installations that came under severe mob attacks including the police station in Achabal, tehsil office in Kokernag, a police post in Qazigund – all set afire. Besides, the garrisons located at Sangam, Larnoo, Seer, Gopalpora, Mattan, Kokernag, Dooru and Janglat Mandi is Islamabad were also attacked. In Kokernag, the residence of local MLA was also set afire.
In Pulwama, Sahai said militants carried out an attack on the District Police Lines.
He identified the slain protestors as Amir Bashir Khan (Verinag), Saqib Manzoor Mir (Khundroo), Aijaz Ahmad Thakur (Siligam), Mohammad Asif Dar (Halpora) and Showkat Ahmad Hassanpora (Arwani). He did not have the names of others available with him.
The ADG CID did not offer any idea of the number of people who are injured and admitted to various hospitals. However, he knew that 96 security men were injured.
Sahai said there were violent incidents at other places across Kashmir as well. Almost in all the districts there were “violent incidents” but “North Kashmir areas exhibited more restraint than South Kashmir.” He also said that mobs attacked various spots where minority habitations are located. He made a special mention of Hawl on the Shopian road where some abandoned houses were also set afire by the mobs.
Refusing to draw parallels between the civil unrest of 2008, 2010 and the aftermath of Burhan killing in 2016, Sahai said they will analyse the situation and take adequate measures. “There are certain pockets which have given us trouble and we will gear to prevent any escalations,” Sahai said. “Our non-lethal weaponry is better than we earlier had and we will use it adequate to prevent any further loss of human life.”
Sahai appealed parents to “counsel” their kids and “avoid violence”. He “appreciated” the petrol pump owners who have stopped selling fuels to youngsters “fearing it might be used in setting afire the public property”. He did not hazard a guess about situation getting normal insisting that “if Sunday was better, Monday will be normal”.
Sahai who was flanked by Kashmir Police Chief Javed Mujtaba Gilani faced some uncomfortable questions about the encounter itself. They said the police are routinely making efforts against killing a militant but once the battle starts “no options are left”.
Gilani said they have captured 18 militants in last one year. He said they are making all efforts to contain the situation. “There were instances of weapon snatching and in the process many people were hit above the waist,” Gilani said when a reporter asked him his observation that lower limb bullet injuries are quite a few.
Neither of the two officers was in a position to offer any count of the number of people who attended the funeral prayers of Burhan in Tral. They also avoided responding to questions like the “importance of Burhan in current militant set up” and also did not react to the question about the “fallout” that they foresee on the security front after Burhan. One of them later said that there are only 32 militants active in Kashmir.
