Shifting of army personnel from Jammu to Ladakh to counter Chinese incursions allowed terrorists to exploit the situation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday, asserting more steps were needed to improve the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Omar was talking to reporters after visiting the bereaved families of four police personnel in Kathua, Reasi and Jammu districts. The cops were killed in a gunfight with infiltrating terrorists in the Safiyan forest of Kathua district on Thursday.
Two Pakistani terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad, were also killed in the encounter. A massive search operation is underway to track and neutralise other members of the group.
“Visited the families of our bravehearts — Balvinder Singh, Tariq Ahmad, Jaswant Singh and Jagbir Singh — who laid down their lives in the line of duty during the Kathua encounter. Their sacrifice is etched in our hearts forever. We stand with their families in this hour of grief,” according to a post on the X handle of the Chief Minister’s Office.
Talking to reporters after visiting the home of selection grade constable Tariq Ahmad, the chief minister said encounters and terror attacks were nothing new and had been happening in the Jammu region for the past three to four years.
“Even in Reasi district, there was an attack on a passenger bus (ferrying pilgrims last year). There were attacks in Jammu city. The reason behind this is that when the Chinese army made an incursion into Ladakh, we needed an army to counter them,” Omar said.
“We could not remove the army from the valley and so the troops stationed in Jammu were sent to Ladakh, as a result of which there was a shortage somewhere. Now, that shortage is being slowly overcome,” he said.
Assuring that the compensation cases of the fallen policemen would be taken up by the home department when offices reopened after Eid next week, he said “we should try not to have such incidents”.