In the backdrop of recent killings of members of a minority community in Srinagar, security forces have detained hundreds of people for their alleged separatist links in Kashmir.
Sources said as security agencies are clueless about The Resistance Front (TRF) militants, who carried out a series of target killings, including some Kashmiri Pandits and a Sikh teacher, a major crackdown has been launched and over 400 suspects have been either detained or arrested.
“Those detained and arrested in the crackdown include members of Jamaat-e-Islami J&K, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and stone throwers or people on the suspected list of overground workers (OGWs). The detentions are a part of the investigation to break the chain of attacks in the Valley,” they said.
Sources said around 70 people have been detained in Srinagar only, where most of the civilian killings were reported. “Before being killed by the police in Alouchibagh area of Srinagar last month, Abbas Sheikh, the chief of TRF, had succeeded in creating several sleeper cells in the city, which seems to be getting active lately,” they added.
TRF, a new militant outfit, which according to the police is an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the city.
A senior police officer said that the arrests were made to find a link between the recent attacks on the civilians. “However, as of now we haven’t found any link with the recent attacks in the city. We are clueless about new sleeper cells of militants and have no knowledge of them. It is a major challenge for us”, he said.
“The crackdown will continue as top officials of RAW, IB and counter-insurgency experts have reached Kashmir to assist the security agencies here”, he revealed.
Small groups of OGWs armed with pistols have carried out a spate of killings in recent weeks, taking the number of civilians murdered in Kashmir this year to 28.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also summoned 40 school teachers in the target killing case which they are formally taking for investigation. These teachers have been directed to report at the NIA Camp Office in Srinagar on Sunday at 4 pm.