Two police officers, SgCT Mohammad Yousuf resident of Zurhama Kupwara, and Constable Suhail Ahmad of Logripora Aishmuqam in south Kashmir lost their lives today to a terror attack.
This is the second terror attack in the J&K capital in the past three days during a two-day visit of foreign envoys from over 20 countries. The foreign envoys’ visit commenced on February 17th, and just over the last 48 hours, six persons — three suspected terrorists and three police officers were killed.
On February 17, when foreign envoys landed in Kashmir to “assess the ground situation”, militants shot at Aakash Mehra, son of the owner of a famous vegetarian eatery, Krishna Dhaba in the Sonwar area of Srinagar. Aakash Mehra got wounded from a bullet in his chest, but doctors state he is now stable.
IG Vijay Kumar had said the case was cracked almost immediately. “We acted swiftly and constituted teams under the supervision of DIG (Deputy Inspector General) rank officer that was headed by SP (Superintendent) South City. A civilian called SP South City to say that the attackers were riding a bike, after which we accessed the CCTV footage and followed other inputs.”
He stated that the Srinagar police, in collaboration with Anantnag police, followed leads and arrested two youths allegedly involved in the attack. “The (motor) bike and pistol used in the offense were seized. After interrogating the two, they discovered that a third person was also involved who was then arrested. All three were newly recruited militants and one of them was given pistol training in the forest area of Pahalgam (in south Kashmir).”
He said that two of the arrested hail from south Kashmir’s Pampore area, while the third was a resident of Pulwama.
According to Kumar, a militant commander of the new outfit Resistance Front (TRF) whose name is Gazi recruited the trio. The police believe TRF is an offshoot of the LeT. Kumar said that the case was solved within 24 hours and described this as “a big success”.
There is deep unrest, series of attacks in Srinagar city and also gunfights in the south and central parts of Kashmir which convey that things are very unsettling and unstable in Kashmir, in spite of Kashmir being heavily deployed with the Army. Riyaz Ahmad, an analyst, says: “These attacks tell us that militants can strike at will. The situation in Kashmir is not normal.”
Riyaz Ahmad mentioned that the recent visit of the foreign envoys had “internationalized the Kashmir issue” enabled by the Centre, who claimed it was “allergic to any third-party mediation.”
It is notable that the last time foreign envoys visited Kashmir, there was a militant attack too.
Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) said the Central Government was “wooing foreign envoys through guided tours to seek an ‘all is well’ certificate”. “So much done to woo foreigners who have no stake in the Kashmir issue, while the main stakeholders i.e. the people of Jammu and Kashmir, are disregarded and brutalised into silence.”