Indo-Pak border to be completely sealed by December 2018: Rajnath Singh

[Hindustani78]

Jammu February 21, 2017 11:19 IST
Updated: February 21, 2017 11:23 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ation-bid-militant-killed/article17339085.ece

The incident occurred around midnight when Border Security Force troops deployed along the LoC fence in Keri sector of Rajouri detected some suspicious movement.
BSF has foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir and gunned down a militant.

Officials said the incident occurred around midnight when Border Security Force (BSF) troops deployed along the LoC fence in Keri sector of Rajouri detected some suspicious movement.

A heavy exchange of fire ensued for about 30 minutes and the guns then went silent from the other side, they said.

A search was conducted early morning during which the BSF party recovered the body of the militant along with an AK—47 rifle, six loaded magazines and a monocular night vision device from the Pakistan side.

A black bag containing another loaded AK magazine, dry fruits and juice was also recovered, they said.


“It is understood that the remaining terrorists took advantage of the undulating hilly ground and jungle and retreated to their side. An infiltration bid was foiled by alert troops,” they added.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Militants-ambush-Army-convoy-in-Shopian/article17352053.ece

44 Rashtriya Rifles personnel were returning from an operation at Kungnoo, in Shopian when the militants opened fireon them. File photo

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Militants-ambush-Army-convoy-in-Shopian/article17352053.ece
Srinagar: February 23, 2017 08:46 IST
Updated: February 23, 2017 18:42 IST

A joint search team of Army and police was attacked by militants at Mulu Chitragam, 60 km south of Srinagar.
Three soldiers and a woman were killed and three Army men injured as militants ambushed a search and cordon team in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning.

A Srinagar based police spokesman told The Hindu that a joint search team of the Army and police was attacked by the militants at Mulu Chitragam, Shopian, 60 km south of Srinagar, at 2 a.m.

“The attack resulted in injuries to six Army personnel, including two officers, of whom three died of their injuries,” said the police spokesman.

The Army personnel, who belonged to 44 Rashtriya Rifles, were returning from an operation at Kungnoo Shopian when the militants opened fire.

The police said a woman, identified as Taja, “was hit by a stray bullet inside her house in the crossfire” and died, said the spokesman.

*******************
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/fresh-clashes-erupt-in-kulgam/article17349613.ece
Despite a government order asking civilians to stay away from encounter sites, fresh clashes erupted in south Kashmir’s Kulgam during a search and cordoning-off operation on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses said clashes erupted at Tarigam village of Kulgam district when the security forces launched an anti-militancy operation after inputs about the presence of militants.

As part of the operation, a police official said, a Public Health Centre was encircled.

Stones hurled

However, locals, particularly youth, hurled stones at the search party, forcing its law and order component to lob tearsmoke shells to chase away the protesters.

Earlier this week, the authorities had asked people to stay indoors during search operations. The restrictions were applicable up to 3 km in radius where an operation was conducted. Only ambulances and government employees were give free passage during searches.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat had taken exception to the growing trend of crowds gathering near the encounter site.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...uder-shot-dead-another-arrested-in-jammu.html

Updated Feb 24, 2017, 4:31 pm IST
The female intruder was killed in the Pargwal sector of Akhnoor tehsil on Thursday night, a senior BSF officer said.

(Photo: Representational Image)
Jammu: A female Pakistani intruder was shot dead and another was arrested by the BSF when they tried to infiltrate into Indian Territory along the International Border (IB) in different sectors of Jammu division.

The female intruder was killed in the Pargwal sector of Akhnoor tehsil on Thursday night, a senior BSF officer said.


He said the BSF men deployed on the IB challenged her to stop but when she did not pay heed to the warning, she was shot dead by the jawans.

A meeting was also held with the Pakistan Rangers where they were shown the pictures of the deceased woman and they agreed to accept the body, the officer said.

The body would be handed over to the Rangers on Friday.

In the second incident, a Pakistani national moving in a suspicious manner near the border fence was arrested by the BSF in Kathua sector.

The officer said that the questioning of the arrested person was going on.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...wama-district-no-casualties-reported-4542159/
Suspected militants hurled grenades on Friday on a police post at Kakapora area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, news agency ANI reported. No casualties or injuries have been reported till yet.

Earlier on Thursday, an attack by Hizbul Mujahideen militants on an army convoy left three personnel dead and wounded five others, including two officers, in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. A civilian caught in crossfire was also killed.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...-among-security-agencies-to-tackle-militancy/

By: PTI | Srinagar | Published:February 25, 2017 8:40 pm

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police S P Vaid today called for enhancing the coordination among various security agencies in dealing with militants and other elements inimical to peace and order in the state. He was reviewing the security situation in the South Kashmir range at a high-level officers’ meeting. “Vaid stressed upon the officers to enhance the level of coordination among all security agencies to deal with militants and elements who are bent on vitiating peace and order in the state,” a police spokesman said after the meeting. Locals in certain areas of Kashmir from past some time have been disrupting anti-terror operations by security forces by pelting stones on them which at times helps militants to flee the encounter site.

The DGP impressed upon the security agencies to keep a close and constant vigil for effective security management.

He took stock of the prevailing security situation in South Kashmir range at the meeting which was attended by Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, S J M Gillani, Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir, S P Pani and all the SSPs of the range.

Expressing concern on the growing drug abuse, Vaid implored upon the officers to keep major focus on the narcotics trade and ensure that people involved in the illicit trade of narcotics are booked.

Gillani briefed the meeting regarding the overall security situation in the Valley and enumerated strategy adopted to continue fight against the militancy.

The DGP also visited family of of two army soldiers who laid down their lives during counter-insurgency operations in the Valley over the past two weeks.

“The DGP visited the family of martyr Ghulam Mohidin Rather at Panzpora-Bijbehara in Anantnag district in the morning and family of martyr Ravi Kumar at village Tabela Sarore in Baribhramana area of Jammu in the afternoon,” the spokesman said.

He was accompanied by senior police and army officers during the visit.

Vaid expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and prayed for the eternal peace of departed souls who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives while fighting the militants. The DGP said entire police department shares the grief and sorrow of the bereaved families.

He assured that every support would be provided to the families of these martyrs.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...rom-truck-engaged-in-cross-loc-trade-4549615/
By: PTI | Srinagar | Published:March 1, 2017 4:57 pm

Arms and ammunition were recovered from a truck engaged in cross-LoC trade in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. (Source: Google maps)

Some arms and ammunition were recovered from a truck engaged in cross-LoC trade in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said on Wednesday. Based on a specific information about some arms and ammunition being smuggled in a goods truck meant to carry cross-LoC (Line of Control) trade merchandise, a naka was established by police in Uri area.

“The incoming goods laden trucks which had gone to Chakoti area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir) were searched at Uri during which a Chinese pistol, two magazines with 14 rounds of ammunition, four AK magazines with 120 rounds and two Chinese grenades were recovered from a truck bearing registration number JK03B 1586,” a senior police official said. The driver of the truck, Irshad Ahmad Mantoo of Buchpora village of Kulgam, was arrested and is being questioned.

“Mantoo had received the consignment from a terrorist operative in Chakoti and was supposed to deliver this to militants in south Kashmir,” the official said. He said the weapons were hidden in a camouflaged cavity of the truck designed particularly for hiding arms and ammunition. A case under under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act has been registered in police station Uri in connection with the recovery, he added.

Tuesday’s recovery of the weapons is believed to be the first such seizure on the Kashmir cross-LoC trade route. (ANI Photo)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...s-loc-trade/story-kEyijFXl2ixCP3BFU63mBN.html

Jammu and Kashmir police have recovered a cache of arms and ammunitions, which were being smuggled from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and meant for militants, from a truck involved in transporting goods in the cross-LoC trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route.

The truck, whose registration number is JK03B 1586, was coming back from the other side after the trade when it was apprehended near Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The driver, Kulgam resident Irshad Ahmad Mantoo, has been arrested and is being interrogated.

Tuesday’s recovery of the weapons is believed to be the first such seizure on the Kashmir cross-LoC trade route.

According to a police spokesperson, a Chinese pistol, two pistol magazines, 14 rounds of pistol ammunition, four AK magazines, 120 AK ammunitions and two Chinese grenades were recovered from a “camouflage cavity” of the truck.

Police added that the truck was specifically “designed for hiding arms and ammunition”. They further said the driver of the truck had received the arms consignment from an operative in Chakoti in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and was supposed to deliver them to militants in south Kashmir.

The driver’s family, however, claimed he was innocent.

“He is a common man not associated with any party. We request the police to investigate the matter properly,” brother of the driver, Javid Ahmed, said.

An FIR has been filed in the case with charges under the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in Uri police station and investigation into the matter is on.

Started in 2008, this barter trade, with no currency changing hands, was meant as a key Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan. A trader “exports” an item worth a certain amount across the Line of Control and his counterpart there sends back goods worth an equal amount.

The goods that are exchanged have to be among those in the list of 21 items mutually accepted by both sides and the trade is carried out by relatives.

According to the ministry of industries and commerce, goods worth over Rs 2,800 crore — Rs 1,496.96 crore worth exports and Rs 1,307.62 crore worth imports — were traded through the LoC between April 2013 and March 2016.

Every week, 140 trucks are sent across the LoC from the Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) at Salamabad near Uri town and the 347 traders registered at this TFC get their turn based on an alphabetic roster.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted on the news of this arms smuggling and criticised the Union home ministry for the lack of security scanners at the trade centres. “Which makes the failure of MHA even more glaring. Full truck scanners flagged for acquisition with them since Chidambaram was HM,” Abdullah wrote Twitter.

“Every single meeting with them this issue was flagged and followed up. Thus far there has been little or no progress with those scanners,” he added.

Hilal Turkie, president of the Salamabad cross-LoC traders’ union, said traders have been demanding for full-truck scanners for a long time now and that such incidents show why they are important.

Turkie added that the traders’ union also demand from the government that State Road Transport Corporation trucks should be provided for the cross-LoC trade.

In 2014 and 2015, the cross-LoC trade was suspended for several weeks following the recovery of narcotics from some trucks arriving from Muzzafarabad.

 

[ashok321]

Rajnath's Plan to Build Wall Along Indo-Pak Border Is an Absurdity ...

Proposal to “seal” India-Pakistan border 'ridiculous and nonsensical ...

Indian media's outcry..

 

[Hindustani78]

Rajnath's Plan to Build Wall Along Indo-Pak Border Is an Absurdity ...

Proposal to “seal” India-Pakistan border 'ridiculous and nonsensical ...

Indian media's outcry..

The talk here is about International border .

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/599318/encounter-breaks-kashmir.html
Srinagar, Mar 3, 2017, PTI:

An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Shopian district of Kashmir tonight.

The gunfight erupted after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Chillipora village of the district following information about presence of militants there, a police official said.

As the security forces were closing in, they came under fire from the militants, he said. "The operation is in progress and further details are awaited," he added.

****************************

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...urity-forces-in-pulawama-civilian-killed.html
Srinagar: A civilian was killed and a CRPF jawan injured when militants hurled a grenade at security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said.

The grenade was hurled at the security forces deployed on law and order duty at Murran chowk in the district, 31 km from here, a police official said.


He said the blast resulted in the death of a civilian identified as Mohammad Ayoub Wani and injuries to a CRPF jawan Constable Daljit Kiran.

Security forces have been put on a alert and a manhunt has been launched for the militants, he added.

***********

The police subsequently lodged an FIR in Satwari police station and has begun a probe to ascertain the identity of the person, who abandoned the rifle, which appeared to be some month old. (Representational image)
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/police-recovers-ak-56-rifle-on-outskirts-of-jammu-4552495/

Police on Thursday night recovered an AK-56 rifle along with some pouches with an unidentified substance from near a canal on the outskirt of Jammu city. The police said it rushed its team to the canal near Darap village in Satwari area on a tip off that the weapon was cited by some villagers and began searching for it.

The police subsequently discovered the contraband from the bank of canal along with two pouches of some unknown substance and sent then same for forensic tests. The police subsequently lodged an FIR in Satwari police station and has begun a probe to ascertain the identity of the person, who abandoned the rifle, which appeared to be some month old.

The area from which the weapon was discovered falls in the ambit of R S Pura border belt close to International Border (IB).

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/band...dical-condition-remains-critical_1983328.html

New Delhi: Injured Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Commanding Officer Chetan Cheeta`s medical condition continues to remain critical, said medical bulletin released today.

The Commandant of the 45 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who sustained multiple wounds during an an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir`s Bandipora district on February 14, is reportedly in a critical condition at the AIIMS trauma centre.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat visited the CRPF officer in hospital to take cognisance of his medical condition.

As many as three army personnel were killed and seven others were injured in the encounters in the Hajin area of Bandipora.

One LeT terrorist was also killed in the encounter. The Indian Army officers recovered both arms and ammunitions.


First Published: Saturday, March 4, 2017 - 12:06

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...n-operation/article17409120.ece?homepage=true

Despite a cordon, militants flee Chillipora village

Amid protests by locals, the security forces called off a night-long operation against militants in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Saturday.

Police sources said the decision to withdraw the Army, CRPF and police from Shopian’s Chillipora village was made on Saturday morning “as the militants could not be traced despite warning shots fired by the personnel”.

A cordon was laid around Chillipora on Friday evening. After the initial exchange of fire, the security forces put up floodlights and kept vigil. “However, no fresh fire was reported all night,” said a police official.

According to the police, three to four militants, who were hiding in the area, had fled “after the first volley of fire at security forces.”

Despite the Army and the police warning civilians to stay inside during the operation, the Shopian encounter site again saw locals hurling stones at security forces. Teargas shells were used to disperse the protesters.


Extensive searches

“House-to-house searches were launched at day break on Saturday but no arrests were made. The militants apparently managed to escape last night itself,” the official said.

No casualties were reported in the encounter.

Meanwhile, six CRPF personnel were injured as their vehicle turned turtle while chasing a group of “miscreants” in Heff area of the district, the official said.

He said several persons had assembled by the roadside and were holding protests against the security forces in the nearby area.

With inputs from PTI

Army soldiers cordon off area at Chillipora village in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Saturday. A fierce gunbattle started on Saturday morning between security forces and hiding militants, amid stone pelting, in south Kashmir's Shopian. | Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad

Soldiers cordon off an area at Chillipora in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Saturday.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ed-at-tral-encounter-site/article17409993.ece
Srinagar March 04, 2017 23:37 IST
Updated: March 04, 2017 23:38 IST

Preliminary reports suggested security forces had located militants hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village.
Heavy exchange of firing and loud explosions were reported near the encounter site in south Kashmir’s Tral area on Saturday night.

Preliminary reports suggested security forces had located militants hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village.

Earlier on Saturday evening, a cordon and search operation was launched in the Tral area.

The operation was slowed down after local protesters hurled stones at the security forces. Unconfirmed reports suggest a CRPF rifle went missing during the clashes.

Locals told The Hindu that they had heard loud explosions and heavy exchange of firing around 10pm.

Security forces believe two to three militants are holed up in the residential area.

 

[Hindustani78]

Indian army soldiers take position during an encounter with militants in Akhnoor district of Jammu and Kashmir.(AFP File)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-j-k-s-tral/story-FxEiz2AzuBxGsRChQMkoRK.html

A Pakistani militant was killed in an encounter on Saturday between security forces and 4-5 Hizbul Mujahideen militants who were holed up in a house in Tral on the outskirts of Srinagar, official sources said.

The sources said special forces of the army were deployed to carry out a combing operation. The gunfight broke out late on Saturday evening after security forces cordoned off the house.

The body of a Pakistani militant has been recovered and search is on for others, they said.

Curfew has been clamped in the area, 10 km from Srinagar, as protesters gathered near the encounter site. A CRPF jawan’s rifle was snatched by them, they said.

Half of the house was brought down by the security forces but militants were still firing on them.

Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan Wani belonged to this area.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ounter-site/article17409993.ece?homepage=true

Militants were hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village. | Photo Credit: Nissar Bhat


Reports say the militants are hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village.

Two militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in south Kashmir’s Tral area on Sunday morning. Reports suggest that the militants were hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village. A J&K police constable, identified as Manzoor Ahmed, lost his life in the encounter, which is now over.

On Saturday evening, a cordon and search operation was launched in the area. The operation was slowed down after protesters hurled stones at the forces. Locals told The Hindu that they had heard loud explosions and heavy exchange of fire around 10 p.m.

PTI adds:

Security forces had received an input about the presence of two militants in the residence of a carpenter after which police, army and CRPF threw a cordon around it.

The first contact was established with the militants at around 7 p.m. and after that there was an intermittent exchange of fire.

Tral town, which had shot into prominence because of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani, was tense and people had started pouring on to the streets to try and provide an escape for the holed—up militants.

**********
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-for-op-that-claimed-life/article17411998.ece
A 33-year-old Jammu and Kashmir policeman, who was soon to be a father, lost his life in his second attempt to flush out militants holed up in a house in Tral after miraculously escaping a volley of fire the first time round.

Constable Mazoor Ahmed Niak came forward on two occasions after senior officers decided to bring down the house at Reshipora from which the two militants had continued firing on the police, Army and CRPF.

Undeterred by blazing fire from assault rifles, the braveheart crawled in the pitch dark and placed charges (explosives used for road construction) around the house, a senior officer recalled.

The constable came under heavy fire from an AK rifle as he started retreating towards his position but managed to escape, they said.

“Koi baat nahi (don’t worry),” was his nonchalant reply when it was pointed out to him that he would have been killed and that he should not take such risks.

The explosives planted by him, though, brought down only half of the house.

This was followed by a heavy exchange of fire which continued till nearly 2 a.m.

The situation was tense as people in the nearby locality were protesting and social media was abuzz with rumours to mobilize more people, an officer said.

The firing then stopped and following a wait of two hours, Niak again volunteered to plant explosives to bring down what remained of the house, after an Army Major suffered serious gunshot injuries.

As he charged towards the house this time, he was hit by a volley of bullets from a militant. Despite his wounds, he planted the explosives on remaining part of the house before breathing his last.

Survived by a four-year-old son Aarzoo, a pregnant wife and two unemployed brothers, the resident of Salamabad in Uri (North Kashmir) was the only earning member of his family.

He had announced to his senior officer earlier that he was proceeding on leave as his wife was expecting.

“It’s sad that we have lost a boy whose love for his duty and motherland will not go waste. The supreme sacrifice made by the Constable boosts the moral of Jammu and Kashmir police. I salute the brave heart,” Director General of Police S P Vaid said after the wreath laying ceremony held for the martyred policeman.

Both militants, one of whom was from Pakistan, were killed in the encounter.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-four-children-injured-in-explosion-4555145/

Four children were injured in the explosion, he said adding the injured have been taken to a hospital.

By: PTI | Srinagar | Published:March 5, 2017 12:03 pm

The official said preliminary investigations suggest that the children were fiddling with an explosive which they had found in the field.

Four children were injured today in an explosion in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said. A group of children were playing in the fields at Pazalpora in Sopore town, 52 kms from here, when an explosion took place there, a police official said.

Four children were injured in the explosion, he said adding the injured have been taken to a hospital. The official said preliminary investigations suggest that the children were fiddling with an explosive which they had found in the field.

 

[Hindustani78]

Kashmiri villagers pray by the body of Mohammed Ayoub Wani , a civilian killed in a grenade blast, in Goosu about 40 kms from Srinagar on March 3 2017

 

[Hindustani78]

Jawans rush to the encounter site at Tral in south Kashmir on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ed-at-tral-encounter-site/article17409993.ece

Reports say the militants are hiding in a residential area at Nazneenpora village.

One policeman and two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in a 20-hour-long encounter in south Kashmir’s Tral area, which began at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Three soldiers, including a Major, were injured.

After a night-long exchange of fire, the security forces on Sunday used improvised explosive devices to blow up the house, where the militants were hiding, in Nazneenpora village.

“We killed two militant commanders in the encounter without any collateral damage. We will continue operations [against militants] but will ensure that no civilian is hurt,” J&K Director General of Police (DGP) S.P. Vaid said.

One slain militant was identified as Hizb commander Aqib Molvi, a resident of Tral’s Hayuna. “Another was a foreign militant,” said Mr. Vaid. He was identified as Saifullah alias Usama alias Hamaad.

One member of the police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), Manzoor Ahmad Naik, was also killed in the initial assault.

As the encounter was on, clashes erupted in parts of Tral. Hospital sources said over one dozen civilians, including four hit by pellets, were injured in the clashes.

Three children injured
A mysterious blast left three children injured in north Kashmir’s Sopore on Sunday. Superintendent of Police (SP), Sopore, Harmeet Singh, said the children were injured near a hillock at Pazalpora, Sopore, Baramulla district.

Locals said they had stepped on some explosives. “A forensic science laboratory team visited the spot. We will try to identify the composition of the blast material,” said Mr. Singh.

The injured children were identified as Saahil Rashid Lone, Aakash Reyaz Bhat and Shakir Hussain Dar. Rashid was shifted to a Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment.

ASI dies in accident
A policeman died and four were injured when their patrol vehicle skidded off the road in restive Shopian in south Kahsmir.

The deceased was identified as assistant sub-inspector Nazir Ahmad. The vehicle fell into a low-lying area near Imam-Sahib village.

 

[Hindustani78]

Officials said this is the first time that a senior officer’s home has been vandalised by militants.

Written by Mir Ehsan , Sofi Ahsan | Srinagar | Updated: March 8, 2017 10:28 am

Setting off alarm bells among J&K’s top police brass, at least 10 gun-wielding militants vandalised the home of a senior officer in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday night, and warned his relatives that he should quit his job or face the consequences.

Officials said the militants damaged electronic appliances and broke window panes at the family residence of the DySP-rank officer who is currently posted in Srinagar.

Speaking to The Indian Express, DIG (South Kashmir) S P Pani said, “We have been informed that militants entered a police officer’s residence and threatened the family. Police are investigating the incident.” Officials said there have been previous instances of threats being issued to policemen but this is the first time that a senior officer’s home has been vandalised by militants.

Police sources said the assailants also told the officer’s family that police were harassing those providing shelter to militants and damaging their property during raids in different parts of south Kashmir.

Later, top police officers visited Shopian to review security arrangements at the home of their colleague. An officer told this newspaper that if such incidents continued, police have “every right to retaliate and take action against those harassing the family or relatives of policemen and officers”.

Last year, during the unrest in the valley, posters had surfaced against some police officers in their home localities with messages asking them to stop “troubling” those taking part in or spearheading the protests.

In December, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat had warned family members of policemen in a video message that they would be attacked if police “continue to harass” relatives of militants.

”You (police) have committed a big mistake by harassing our families, by involving our families,” Bhat said in the message. “If you touch our families, we will not spare your families. You think your families are in Jammu so they are safe. Even if your families are in Kanyakumari, we have the capacity to kill them there,” he had warned.