Army out after killing of BJP leader, brother

Authorities are leaving nothing to chance in communally sensitive Kishtiwar district of Jammu region as intelligence feedback has warned of a communal backlash after suspected gunmen killed BJP’s state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit. The Governor’s administration swung into action and suspended internet services and also decided to bring out Army for flag march in all the sensitive areas of Kishtiwar to nip the trouble makers in the bud at the beginning itself.

Political activists have been targets in Kashmir valley and several of them killed in the recent past including a prominent PDP worker on the outskirts of Srinagar a few days back. The killing of the BJP leader and his brother has alerted the security agencies in the Jammu region as the “Darbar Move” is going to happen in the winter capital of Jammu from November 5.

DGP Dilbagh Singh has asked the Kishtiwar police brass to identify the killers and book them as soon as possible to restore order in the area. The district administration has kept the Army ready to help them restore order as there were reports of some communal trouble in some highly sensitive areas of Kishtiwar.

Speaking to The Sunday Guardian on telephone, a senior police officer of Kishtiwar said that they have so far arrested two SPOs who were on duty with the slain BJP leader. He said that they are looking at all possible angles of the crime and going to crack the case soon.

The Chenab valley region has a lot of fault lines which have flared up communal riots in the past also. While communal riots there in 2001 had claimed 17 lives and property worth crores was damaged, the region, especially Kishtiwar, saw one more such strife in 2013 when three persons were killed. In 2008 also, there was communal riots in Doda and Bhaderwah. This is the reason that the Governor’s administration clamped curfew on Friday in Doda, Kishtiwar and Bhaderwah in order to avoid any communal tension.