SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police Saturday said that Sarpanchs and Panhs, who are facing threats from militants are being provided safe accommodations in Srinagar and all other district headquarters. The police also said that among the four slain militants was one top JeM commander Khalid Bhai from Pakistan, who was active in South Kashmir since 2018.
Talking to reporters on the side-lines of a function at Tagore Hall Srinagar, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that Sarpanchs and Panchs who are facing threats from militants are being provided safe accommodations in Srinagar and other district headquarters.
“Since they are soft targets, militants find it easy to attack them. Sarpanch killed in Kulgam yesterday was provided space in Srinagar but he had travelled to South Kashmir without informing the Police,” news agency KNO quoted the IGP Kashmir as having said.
He said that yesterday evening, police received specific inputs in three districts—Pulwama, Ganderal and Handwara about presence of militants. “An operation took place in Pulwama’s Chawalgam in which two Jaish militants including a top commander of the outfit Khalid Bhai from Pakistan, who was active since 2018, was killed. His associate Aqib Mushtaq, who was district commander of JeM after the killing of Zahid Wani, was also killed. Aqib was from Karimabad area, once the hotbed of JeM,” the IGP said, adding that “Now there is no active JeM militant in Karimabad.”
He said that one LeT militant was killed in Handwara encounter and another in Ganderbal while as one militant Rouf Ahmed Mir was caught alive in Pulwama encounter along with Pistol.
The IGP said that nowadays there is one foreign militant accompanying at least two local militants and on the directions from across, they try to misuse religious places to trigger law and order situation. “We are alert to foil such bids as seen recently at Pulwama and Hazratbal, Srinagar,” he said.
