SRINAGAR: A day after ISIS claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman guarding moderate separatist leader in Srinagar on Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid on Tuesday said there was no ISIS presence in the State and police was probing the claim of international militant group.
“We are probing the ISIS claim about Sunday’s militant attack in Srinagar in which a policeman was killed,” Director General of Police (DGP) S P Vaid told New Indian Express.
Militants had killed a policeman guarding residence of moderate separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi in Soura area of Srinagar on Sunday evening and snatched his rifle.
The Amaq, the propaganda wing of ISIS, had yesterday claimed that the militant group was responsible for the killing of policeman and warned that a "war" had just begun. The Amaq had also released picture of the SLR rifle that was snatched by militants from the slain policeman.
DGP said ISIS’s website has claimed the responsibility and police was verifying it.
He said police is investigating which militant group was behind the Sunday’s attack.
The ISIS had also claimed the shoot-out in Zakura area of Srinagar in November last year in which a local militant Mugees and an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of policemen were killed.
Vaid said police is also probing the ISIS claim about the Zakura shoot-out. “We are verifying the claim”.
He, however, said there was no evidence on the ground to suggest ISIS presence in the Valley.
“There is no ISIS presence in the State,” he asserted.
The DGP said there is possibility that a person may have got influenced by their ideology on social media and resorted to this kind of thing as is the case with Zakir Musa, who claims to be representing Al Qaeda in Kashmir.
There have been many instances of youth in Valley including in downtown Srinagar waving ISIS flags during protests and clashes.
Besides, there were many instances when bodies of slain militants were wrapped in ISIS flags in Valley.