Yogesh Sagotra
Jammu, Jun 10: As the deadly attack on the Shiv Kohri pilgrims at Reasi has put the entire security grid into a tizzy, J&K’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a high level security meeting in Jammu to take stock of the situation and to pass directions to officers to nab the perpetrators and to intensify the searches.
The Lt Governor, wrote on X, formerly known as twitter: “Chaired a security review meeting with the officials of J&K police and civil administration. I assure the people that those behind the attack on pilgrims in Reasi and those aiding and abetting them will be punished.”
The meeting was held at Police Headquarters Jammu where top police officials, officers from the administration participated. Sources privy to the meeting said, the LG passed a series of directions to the police officers to step up the anti-terrorist operations in Reasi and its adjoining areas including the hilly areas where terrorists are suspected to have taken shelter.
Sources said the Lt Governor was briefed about the leads police have got post Reasi attack that left nine persons dead and 33 others injured and the follow-up action plans of the police and other security agencies. “The Lt Governor directed the police officers that the perpetrators of the crime should be nabbed and searches should be intensified to track the killers,” they said.
An official present at the meeting said that the Lt Governor expressed pain and grief over the killing of nine persons including the driver of the bus and the pilgrims who had come to Shiv Kohri shrine to pay obeisance. “The LG directed the officers to go hard against the terrorists involved in the heinous act,” he said, adding that the police officers present in the meeting assured the LG that all efforts are underway to reach out the terrorists involved in the act that has pained every citizen of the country. Pertinently, Jammu’s Poonch, Rajouri and now Reasi have emerged as a major security challenge for the security agencies as forces believe that foreign terrorists who have infiltrated to this side are carrying out attacks on army and civilians. Sources in the security grid also suspect a foreign hand in the Reasi attack, however, there is no official confirmation on which outfit was involved in the act. On Saturday, DGP R R Swain told reporters at Pulwama that 70 to 80 foreign terrorists were active in J&K and “foreign terrorism was a challenge.”
On Sunday, a bus ferrying pilgrims from Shiv Kohri shrine was attacked on the highway in which the driver of the bus was hit by a bullet after which the bus plunged into a gorge. Nine persons including the driver were killed while 33 pilgrims sustained injuries.
