New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of a crucial cabinet meeting scheduled today.
Amit Shah reached Prime Minister Modi's residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg to discuss the steps taken by the Jammu and Kashmir situation amid recent civilian killings in the state along with the issues of national security. The two leaders discussed the atmosphere of fear in the valleu which is forcing an exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and non-locals from Kashmir
Shah also chaired a six-hour-long national security strategies conference on Monday during which deliberations were held on internal security challenges and measures to tackle them firmly.
Shah during the conference reviewed overall security matters across the country and policing issues with the DGPs, IGPs of all states, and union territories.
Sources revealed that Kashmiri terrorists are attacking Hindus and Sikhs in an attempt to eliminate them and it is being done in an attempt to recreate the situation Kashmir faced in the '90s. Security agencies have been put on high alert to respond to any terrorist activities.
Home Minister Amit Shah arrived at the PM residence to brief him on the situation in Kashmir and the steps which need to be taken ahead of the cabinet meeting. Security agencies in Kashmir are believed to be carrying out large-scale investigations and operations against terrorists.
Since terror organizations are carrying out targeted killings of individuals and small groups, all security agencies have been instructed to identify and nab terrorists right at the grassroots level.
According to sources, Shah has directed agencies to take action even on a small piece of intelligence received. Director-General of Police, Inspector General of Police, Superintendent of Police and Selected Inspector General-level Field Officers, Chief of Central Police Forces, Intelligence Agencies, and Police Organizations of all states attended the closed-room conference.
According to a home ministry spokesperson, "At the conference, various internal security challenges were discussed along with ways to deal with them. Discussions on various issues of law and order including the overall security situation in the country and the recent incidents of killings targeting civilians in Kashmir were also discussed." According to sources, the Home Minister also reviewed the current situation of Maoist terrorism in various Naxal-dominated states and also discussed the busting of terror modules across the country. The meeting was part of an exercise initiated by the Home Minister to meet top police officials once every six months.
In the latest incident of civilians’ killings in recent weeks in Jammu and Kashmir, two more non-local labourers were shot dead by the terrorists and another injured in Kulgam district on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, two non-locals were shot dead by militants in Srinagar and Pulwama districts. Arvind Kumar Sah, a resident of Bihar’s Banka was shot at by the ultras outside a park at Eidgah in Srinagar. In another incident, militants fired at and critically injured Saghir Ahmad, a carpenter hailing from Uttar Pradesh, in Pulwama district.
Seven civilians, including four from minority communities, were earlier killed by the terrorists in Kashmir, triggering fear among the people in the valley.