Union Home Minister Amit Shah landed in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday morning for a three-day visit — his first since the government scrapped Article 370 in August two years ago.
The Home Minister started his tour by visiting the house of late Inspector Parvez Ahmed who was killed by terrorists last month. He handed over papers relating to a government job to his wife. Shah was accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh and DGP Dilbag Singh during his visit.
Shah’s visit comes in the backdrop of a series of civilian killings in the Valley. Sources said that he will be chairing a unified command meeting at the Raj Bhawan on security. The meeting will be attended by the four corps commanders, J&K police top brass and chiefs of intelligence bureau and central armed police forces among other top officials.
More importantly, Shah is likely to visit Lethpora in Pulwama district of South Kashmir and pay homage to the 40 CRPF martyrs killed in a terror attack in February 2019. It was at Lethpora that a suicide bomber drove a bomb-laden car near a CRPF convoy headed to Srinagar from Jammu and exploded it killing 40 jawans. The attack was followed by air strikes by India on Pakistan’s Balakot.
Shah will fly to Jammu on Sunday where he is likely to address an IIT convocation in the morning followed by a public rally in the afternoon. He is also likely to meet a delegation of Kashmiri pandits before flying back to Srinagar.
In the past two weeks, the Valley has seen 11 civilians, including migrants and non-Muslim Kashmiris, being killed by militants. While security forces have gunned down 17 suspected militants in the period and tightened security across the Valley, sources said, the network is still at large and security forces are at their wit’s end to ensure no untoward incident happens during the minister’s visit.
