It was a challenging October for security forces and police in Jammu and Kashmir with the Union Territory witnessing several encounters, civilian killings and loss of life among security personnel.
On the first day of October, four terrorists, including Samim Sofi and Kamran Bashir, were arrested by the J&K police, while one was eliminated in an encounter with security forces in Shopian. The next day, terrorists targeted two locals identified as Majid Ahmad Gojri and Mohammad Shafi Dar. The latter succumbed to his injuries the next day in hospital.
On October 5, terrorists shot dead three civilians, including non-locals, in Kashmir. Prominent Kashmiri Pandit chemist Dr Bindroo Lal, street vendor Virendar Paswan, and president of Sumo driver association Mohammad Shafi Lone were killed in three separate incidents in different areas.
As police and security forces launched an investigation and search for terrorists who killed in the three civilians as well two others the week before, more civilians were targeted on October 7, this time two teachers from minority communities. The terrorists reportedly entered the school in Srinagar and lined up all staff and teachers to check their ID cards. They then picked out two teachers identified as Deepak Chand and Supindar Kour, killing them on the spot.
“The pistol-wielding men came into the school this morning and asked for the identity cards of the teachers and later fired at two teachers, one each from the minority Sikh and Hindu community,” a Reuters report had quoted an eye-witness as saying.
Amid the spate of civilian killings, security personnel were also alerted to the possibility of forces being targeted.
On October 8, a local was killed when CRPF troops opened fire at the driver of an SUV when he allegedly didn’t heed their signal to stop the vehicle at a checkpost in Anantnag district. The J&K police said the troops fired in self-defence as the driver rushed towards them.
Soon, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was roped in and officials from the Intelligence Bureau and R&AW initiate a massive hunt for on-ground workers (OGWs) helping terror outfits in Kashmir. In the next one week, around 900 OGWs were apprehended in joint operations monitored by the IB.
Around a dozen terrorists were eliminated during encounters in Bandipora, Anantnag, and Shopian. These terrorists reportedly belonged to The Resistance Front and LeT, terror outfits that claimed responsibility for the civilian killings.
From October 11 to October 16, nine Army personnel were killed in gunfights with militants in Poonch, Mendhar area. On October 16 and 17, four non-local labourers were killed, adding to the spree of civilian killings.
The Ministry of Home Affairs tasked the NIA with registering a case to probe the larger conspiracy behind civilian killings, while Home Minister Amit Shah undertook a trip to J&K amid the chaos. During the visit, Shah paid a tribute to the martyrs and also held a top-level meeting with chiefs of CRPF, IB, R&AW, NIA and J&K Police.
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