The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reportedly going to hold a high-level review meeting over the security situation in Jammu Kashmir in the wake of recent militant attacks.
A CRPF trooper Mukthar Ahmad, who was home on leave, was killed by suspected militants in Shopian district on Sunday which was the fourth such attack in the last three days. Ahmad succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital.
Shabir Ahmad Mir, a sarpanch, was shot dead in Kulgam on Friday, while the sarpanch of Khanmoh Bashir Ahmad Bhat was killed two days prior on the outskirts of Srinagar.
On March 7, two civilians were killed and at least 35 people, including a police official, were injured in a grenade attack Amira Kadal, a busy Sunday street market in Srinagar.
Security has been heightened across the union territory, particularly in the Kashmir Valley, while drones are also being used to monitor the forest areas.
Sources quoted by news reports said that the militants have been hiding in the forests after conducting the attacks.
Intelligence agencies have identified ‘some locations’ near Srinagar and Baramula district and a coordinated operation against these militants have already been planned in coordination with the Jammu Kashmir Police’s Special Operation Group (SOG).
Recently, the Jammu Kashmir Police recovered a cache of weapons possibly dropped from a drone along the International Border in RS Pura sector. A massive search operation was carried by the SOG.
The cache of weapons comprised two magazines, 70 cartridges, one pistol, three detonators, three remote-controlled IEDs, three bottles of explosives, a bundle of cortex wire, two timer IEDs and six grenades.