Days after terror group's 'hit list', home secy reviews JK situation

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, days after a terrorist group released a "hit list" of 56 employees belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community.

The meeting was also attended by other senior officials of the ministry, paramilitary forces, the Jammu and Kashmir administration and police.

The meeting took stock of the prevailing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said.

It is a routine monthly review meeting and some of the representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir administration attended it through video conferencing, another official said.

There have been reports that people from the Kashmiri Pandit community working in the valley are in a state of panic after a terrorist group released a "hit list" of 56 employees from among them.

A blog linked to The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, published the list of 56 Kashmiri Pandit employees who were recruited under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package (PMRP), and warned of mounting attacks on them.

In the aftermath of targeted killings by terrorists, several Kashmiri Pandits employed in the valley under the PMRP have shifted to Jammu and are on a protest for over 200 days demanding relocation of the rest of them.

There have been sporadic incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir in recent months that include attacks on innocent civilians, security personnel and infiltration bids from across the border, officials said.

The government had informed Parliament that as many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 till July 2022.

The killings of Kashmiri Pandits had triggered protests by the members of the community and they demanded enhanced security and transfer of government employees to safer locations.

In May, four Hindu pilgrims were killed and at least 20 injured when their bus caught fire near Katra in Jammu.

Police suspect a sticky bomb might have been used to trigger the fire.

Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the state was divided into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.