SRINAGAR: A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s daylong visit to J&K, militants issued a threat to Kashmiri Pandit employees, making their details public, and circulated a “voice note” on mobile phones warning such employees to leave the Valley or face consequences.
The PM will address a public rally in Jammu on Tuesday and lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth over Rs 30,500 crore. He will also flag off Kashmir’s first electric train and inaugurate the 48-km Banihal-Sangaldan railway link.
The PM’s public rally at Jammu’s Maulana Azad stadium is expected to witness a massive crowd, police sources said. Meanwhile, a militant outfit circulated a list of about two dozen Pandit employees with their contact numbers in a memo: ‘The message to KPs.’ Militants have warned of uploading details of more Pandit employees.
“They think they are not being watched. They live in fool’s paradise,” read the message. Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) chief Sanjay Tickoo said it was for the first time that details of the Pandit employees were being made public by militants. Terming it a serious security lapse, he questioned how militants got the contact numbers of the employees.
In the voice note, a purported caller claims that the People’s Anti-Fascist Front, an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad, has released the list of Pandit employees. The militant group has warned the Pandits, who have resettled in Kashmir in the last few years, to leave the Valley or face consequences. Tickoo said it was for the first time that the Pandits have received threats via “voice notes” on their mobile phones.
Tickoo said he had informed security officials about the threat. Security has already been tightened in areas where the Pandits stay, especially after the recent killing of two workers from Punjab in downtown Srinagar. Security officials have asked the Pandit employees stationed in Valley to be careful while moving out.
The PM’s rally in Jammu would boost BJP prospects ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary polls. Multiple-tier security arrangements have been put in place in Jammu and Srinagar for the smooth conduct of the PM’s visit. Jammu has been declared a “no drone zone” for tomorrow.
Development projects linked to the PM’s visit include several sectors such as health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, civic infrastructure and power.
Development schemes
Development projects linked to the PM’s visit include several sectors such as health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, civic infrastructure and power. The PM would inaugurate AIIMS Jammu, and lay the foundation stone for new terminal building of Jammu Airport and a common user facility petroleum depot in Jammu.