Targeted Killings in J&K: Amit Shah Holds Meet With Ajit Doval, LG Manoj Sinha

This comes after terrorists have targeted and killed several civilians in the Valley in the past few weeks.

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and  Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

(Photo: Samarth Grover/The Quint)

Amid a spate of targeted killings in the Kashmir Valley, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 3 June, held a high-level meeting to discuss the situation with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and other key officials.

Besides Sinha and Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, DG CRPF Kuldeep Singh, Border Security Force (BSF) chief Pankaj Singh, and J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh were also present in the meeting.

This was the second high-level meeting within a span of a few weeks, at a time where terrorists have targeted and killed several civilians in the Valley in a span of the past few weeks.

Friday's discussions were likely to take into account the logistics and arrangements required for the annual Amarnath Yatra (pilgrimage), which is being organised after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the previous meeting on 17 May, the home minister had advocated "pro-active and coordinated counter-terror operations" and had asked security forces to ensure zero cross-border infiltration.

Unrest, Fear Over Targeted Killings Grip Valley

Scores of Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging continuous protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists on 12 May in Chadoora area of Budgam district in central Kashmir.

Since the previous high-level meet, the home minister said that to fulfill PM Narendra Modi's vision of peaceful Jammu and Kashmir, cross-border infiltration should be brought to an absolute halt.

The meeting came at a time where terrorists have carried out multiple targeted killings, including that of a woman teacher hailing from Jammu, a Rajasthan Bank Manager, and two non-local labourers.

On 18 May, terrorists had entered into a wine shop at Baramulla in North Kashmir and threw a grenade, killing one person hailing from Jammu region and injuring three others.

On 24 May, a policeman, Saifullah Qadri, was shot dead outside his residence in Srinagar while a television artiste Amreen Bhat was gunned down in Budgam two days later.

On 2 June, hours after the killing of a banker from Rajasthan in Kulgam, two non-local labourers were shot at in Magraypora, Chadoora area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Thursday.

Killings of Labourers 'Saddening': Bihar Minister Jibesh Kumar

Offering condolences to the kin of the non-local labourers, who were shot by the militants in Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday, Bihar Minister Jibesh Kumar said, "It's saddening. Our officials are in continuous touch with J&K government. The body of the labourer, which is currently in a J&K hospital for post-mortem, will be taken to his residence by our deparment after it arrives at Bihar airport," reported news agency ANI.

One of the labourers who succumbed to his injuries was identified as Dilkhush Kumar from Bihar's Arnia.

The minister further said that he and his team had spoken to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha.

Sinha has assured that strict action would be taken against the guilty organisation or group, Kumar said.

(With inputs from ANI.)