J&K Governor blames Pakistan for Anantnag militant attack
SRI NAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday blamed Pakistan for the militant attack in Anantnag on Wednesday which claimed the lives of five CPRF men.Malik told reporters that whenever security forces have the upper hand in Valley, directions come to militants from across the border for staging fidayeen attack. “It is 100% a conspiracy by Pakistan. The fidayeen attack took place on direction of Pakistan,” he said.
The governor also mentioned the fidayeen attack on CRPF bus which took place in February this year saying that it also happened when the panchayat and ULB elections in the State were being held peacefully.
During the wreath laying ceremony for the slain CRPF men in Srinagar, Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar told reporters that even with all the intelligence and precautions in place, the jawans cannot save themselves from the first burst.
“The public and transport were moving at the place where militant attack took place. It was not an isolated post where there could not be a one to one fight,” he added.Denying that there was a security lapse in the attack, Kumar said, “In every incident, you can say there is lapse or no lapse. In this case, there was proper reaction within few minutes. The initial opportunity is with other side. It all depends how you are able to counter.”.
The attack has been claimed by Al-Umar Mujahideen, which is now defunct. However, security officials suspect the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad militants in the attack.
Refusing to give any credibility to the claim, Kumar, said, “We don’t want to give it complete credibility. We are verifying the claim”.
Meanwhile, police inspector Arshad Ahmed Khan, who was injured during the Anantnag attack on CRPF jawans is battling for his life at an Army hospital.
Khan was stepping out of his armoured vehicle when a bullet fired by a terrorist ricocheted from his service rifle hitting his liver, officials said.
The Central Police Welfare Committee (CPWC) enhanced the ex-gratia from `15 lakh to `20 lakh to the next of kin of Jammu and Kashmir policemen who die on duty. Special relief payable to the next of kin of SPOs in the event of death while in service has been enhanced to `5 lakh, said DGP Dilbagh Singh.