New Delhi: Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the Jammu region on Friday, migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees who are on a strike for 249 days following the killing of one of their colleagues by terrorists sat on a protest in Jammu, seeking an appointment with the lieutenant governor to raise their demand of relocation with him, as reported by the news agency PTI.


Shah is slated to visit the Rajouri district on Friday to meet the family members of victims of terror attacks. He is scheduled to reach Rajouri in the morning and will move straight to Dhangri village.


According to the officials, multi-tier security arrangements are in place ahead of Shah's visit to Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Friday, as reported by PTI. Tight security arrangements have been made in the district's Dhangri hamlet where roads have been repaired and CCTV cameras installed, they said.


The leaders of various political parties visited the protest site to show their solidarity with the employees. "We are demanding that the employees should be relocated from Kashmir in the wake of selective and targeted killings. For the matter to be raised with the government, we are seeking a written assurance for an appointment with the LG," a protester told reporters here, as quoted by PTI.


He said they have failed to get an appointment with LG Manoj Sinha despite three separate requests made to the Raj Bhawan. Top police and district administration officers reached out to the protesters, urging them to call off the night-long stir.


Working president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Raman Bhalla and BJP leaders Rajiv Pandita and Rakesh Kaul, visited the protest site, among others. However, police did not allow Bhalla to sit on a dharna with the protesters.


Another employee said they have been protesting at the relief commissioner's office here for the last 249 days and will not return to the valley under the prevailing circumstances, PTI reported. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits employed in the valley under the prime minister's package moved to Jammu following the killing of Rahul Bhat in his office in central Kashmir's Budgam district on May 12, 2022.


The LG met the members of a delegation of the All Minority Employees Association, Kashmir at the Raj Bhawan earlier in the day. The delegation submitted a detailed memorandum regarding their grievances to the LG.


The members of the delegation also expressed their gratitude to the LG-led Union Territory administration for initiating various measures for the welfare of the employees from the minority community. The LG reiterated the government's commitment towards ensuring a safe and secure environment for the minority employees posted in the Kashmir division and assured them of continuous support.


The Union Home minister is also scheduled to chair a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, they said, adding that senior officers of different forces and intelligence agencies will be part of it.


The twin terror attacks had left seven people of the minority community, including two children, dead and fourteen others injured in the Dhangri hamlet. Officials said massive security arrangements have been put in place in the Rajouri district ahead of the Union minister's visit and the entire Dhangri area of Rajouri has been turned into a restricted zone, PTI reported.


Restrictions will also be put in place on the normal movement of people on Friday morning till late afternoon hours, they said. Officials said a multi-tier security cover has been put in place comprising of security personnel of the police and the CAPF, while troops of the Indian Army will also guard the higher reaches.


They said the heavy deployment, both on roads of the VVIP movement as well as in the Dhangri village has been made. CCTV cameras have also been placed at a number of locations in the Dhangri village to ensure close surveillance of the area, they said, PTI reported. Senior police and CAPF officers also visited the area on Thursday evening and reviewed the security arrangements ahead of the Home minister's visit.


(With PTI Inputs)