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Back-to-back attacks prompt J&K Police to review security of their men
As per the official data of last three decades, more than 520 SPOs and around 1,100 police personnel have been killed in J&K and many among them were murdered either inside their residences or somewhere close by
Last week’s killing of a special police officer, Fayaz Ahmad, his wife and 22-year-old daughter by militants in Tral was the latest in a series of attacks on police personnel in Kashmir, which has forced the police department to go for security review for its men.
On June 23, a police inspector working with CID, Pervaz Ahmad Dar, was shot dead at Nowgam when he was coming out of a mosque after offering prayers. Five days before that special police officer Javid Ahmad was gunned down outside his house.
These back-to-back attacks on policemen, especially when they were not on duty, have prompted officials to review SOPs and adherence to the new guidelines. Soon after such attacks last month, J&K DGP Dilbag Singh ordered security review of policemen, especially those considered as the ‘soft targets’.
As per the official data of last three decades, more than 520 SPOs and around 1,100 police personnel have been killed in J&K and many among them were murdered either inside their residences or somewhere close by.
Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar has said that by targeting innocent civilians or policemen, militants are trying to create fear among people. “These attacks are barbaric,” he said.
“There are SOPs in place which policemen and officers need to follow, especially in those areas where movement of militants is prominent. After every targeted attack, officers try to educate their men about precautions which they should take when they are either on leave or off duty,” said a senior police officer. He said militants always look for ‘soft targets’.
This isn’t the first time when militants have targeted cops in the Valley. Earlier, militant groups had asked locals to leave their jobs in the police or face consequences. The police have blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed for these recent attacks.
Many SPOs after deserting the forces have even joined militant ranks and several have been neutralised during encounters.
Last year, an SPO-turned-militant, Shakoor Parray, was killed in a gunfight with forces in Anantnag. He had joined as an SPO in 2014 and was converted as a constable. He had even taken away four rifles before joining a militant outfit. In October 2020, SPO Altaf Hussain had decamped with two AK-47 rifles and three magazines.
In April, a woman SPO was arrested in south Kashmir after police blamed her for uttering anti-India and pro-freedom slogans off camera, thus inviting action under the ULA(P) Act. She had accused the forces of trying to harass her family in the name of search operation.
The household of the accused is a suspected shelter point of an active Hizbul-Mujahideen terrorist, Aslam Dar. The woman has been on police radar as a suspected OGW.
“It remains to be investigated whether her act was meant to be a disruption tactic to aid escape of the said terrorist when the search operation was underway,” a police spokesperson had said soon after her arrest.
