Agence France-Presse quoted an official on Sunday as saying that security forces have detained nearly 500 people in Jammu and Kashmir and they are investigating a series of killings by terrorists. The development took place after seven civilians from Kashmir Pandit, Sikh and Muslim communities were killed in the past few days.
A senior police officer who asked not to be named told Agence France-Presse that the detainees were suspected of being connected to a terrorist organization. Another NDTV report on the matter stated that many of the detainees were suspected of being connected to the banned Jamaat-e-Islami organization or were suspected of being on the ground workers (OGW) list. A police officer told AFP: “Sparing no effort to find the murderer.”
A senior counter-terrorism intelligence officer sent from New Delhi is leading the investigation. Officials told Agence France-Presse that the National Bureau of Investigation today summoned 40 teachers in the main city of Srinagar for questioning. These killings aroused the anger of opposition leaders, who accused the government of failing to contain such attacks. Agence France-Presse quoted the authorities as saying that so far this year, a total of 29 civilians have been shot dead in Kashmir. Recently, two teachers from Sikh and Hindu minority communities were shot and killed by gunmen in a public school in Srinagar on Thursday.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a new terrorist organization in Kashmir supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is suspected to be the main terrorist organization behind the targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir. The center held a high-level meeting hosted by Federal Minister of the Interior Amit Shah at its northern district office on Thursday. At the same time, Lieutenant General DP Pandey, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, condemned the killings in the territory on Sunday, saying that some people were trying to divide society in the community.
He further stated that these people are jealous of the positive developments that took place in the country and the Union territory last year.
News Source : Hindustan Times
