| Post weapon snatching by terrorists, over 30 OGWs arrested in Kishtwar | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 20: Almost a week after three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists kept the family of a PDP leader hostage and later decamped with AK 47 of his PSO, security forces have arrested over 30 ground workers in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
"A search operation was launched on Wednesday and Thursday by the security forces along with teams of army and intelligence agencies, which lasted till late last night," official sources here said on Friday.
They said that on Wednesday, around 12 OGWs were arrested on specific inputs during different raids and on their disclosure, on Thursday, more 24 OGWs were taken into custody. "During questioning, their direct or indirect links were surfaced with many terrorist outfits and terrorists," they added.
Sources further said that searches under "Mission Kishtwar" are in progress and more arrests are on cards, adding, "the district has been cordoned by the troops to keep check on any movement of terrorists from Kashmir valley."
Last Friday, three terrorists barged into the house of PDP leader Sheikh Nasir and held the family hostage. On Saturday, they escaped from the spot with AK-47 rifle of his PSO.
Official sources further added that in view of prevailing situation in Kishtwar district, as many as 36 closed circuit cameras have also been installed at many vital locations to keep watch on various activities.
"The project of installing CCTVs was initiated in 2005 but could not take off due to some technical reasons but ultimately, they are being installed out of which, many have started working," they added.
After the Abrogation of Article 370, additional deployment of troops was also made in the Kishtwar district.
Over a decade ago, Kishtwar district was declared terrorism-free but the terrorist related activities hit the town when BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother, Ajeet Parihar, were killed in November 2018 followed by the killing of RSS leader Chandrakant Sharma and his security guard Rajinder Kumar inside Kishtwar district hospital on April 9. Two special police officers were injured in an encounter with terrorists in Appan area of Marwah belt in Kishtwar on May 31 this year but the militants had managed to escape. On July 24, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Jamal Din surrendered before the security forces during in Kishtwar town. He had joined the terror outfit last year. |
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