Jammu On Wednesday, the Union ministry of home affairs told 18 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to go to the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir to help fight terrorism there.
The decision was made because terrorists have been killing more people in the Union territory. It also comes after two terrorist attacks in the village of Dhangri in Rajouri, where two children and six people from a minority group were killed and 15 others were hurt.
“Nine companies have already made it to Rajouri, and the other nine will get there tonight” (Wednesday night). They will be used to fight terrorism in the Rajouri and Poonch districts, said a senior CRPF officer who asked to remain anonymous.
“In cooperation with the police, the army, and other agencies, they will step up their efforts to stop insurgencies. “Top officers from the army, police, CRPF, and other agencies will come up with a plan to step up operations against insurgents,” the officer said.
Most of the time, there are 120 people in a CRPF company.
Officers who knew about the situation told HT that the home ministry made the decision because of a rise in the number of civilians from the minority community in J&K who were killed for no reason.
“Eight companies from different parts of Jammu and Kashmir have been sent to Rajouri, and 10 companies are being rushed from Delhi,” said one of the officers, who also did not want to be named.
Officers said that combing operations will start in areas south of Pir Panjal after they have been split up into zones.
Four civilians were killed on Sunday when two terrorists broke into their homes in the village of Dhangri and shot at them randomly. A 4-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl died on Monday when an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been placed at the front door of the house of one of the people who had been shot went off.
As a protest against the terrorist attacks in Rajouri, the whole district of Poonch shut down on Wednesday.
Muslim groups all agreed with the Hindu groups Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Vishwa Hindus Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and Hindu Jagran Manch when they called for a bandh.
“The whole district of Poonch shut down to protest the killings in Rajouri. “There was no commercial traffic on the roads, and the markets were empty,” said a resident of Poonch, which is 235 km from Jammu. “The Muslim community gave the bandh call its full support.”
Lawyers from all over the Union territory also held a one-day protest against the deaths in Dhangri. They stopped work in all courts, tribunals, commissions, and revenue courts.
Meanwhile, security forces said that the killings in Dhangri were done by two unidentified terrorists who were likely members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Two civilians were killed when two terrorists opened fire outside an army camp in Rajouri on December 16. It is thought that these two terrorists were the same ones.
A senior army officer said, “The two men who are thought to be part of JeM may have just moved into Rajouri, and they are still on the run.” “There was a search in Muradpur, which is in Rajouri, but they were able to get away.”
The officer also said that information from intelligence sources showed that JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) planned to attack civilians in Rajouri and Poonch districts.