Jammu & Kashmir administration has ordered the re-construction of security pickets across Kashmir valley, especially in Srinagar city, where targeted civilian killings have increased since October.
The order came on a day when two terrorists were killed in the valley in two separate encounters.
One unidentified terrorist was killed in the first encounter between holed-up terrorists and security forces on Thursday morning at the Chawalgam area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
Reports said a joint team of police and Army personnel launched a cordon-and-search operation in Chawalgam. As the team approached the spot, the hidden terrorists fired upon the forces, triggering off a gunfight.
Another unidentified terrorist was killed in a brief encounter at the Bemina area of Srinagar late on Thursday evening. Acting on a specific lead about the presence of terrorists near the Bemina police post, a brief shoot-out took place in which an unidentified terrorist was killed, a police official said.
Sources said 50 security pickets were removed from various vulnerable areas across Kashmir valley in 2011, besides the release of 600 stone pelters, by the then Omar Abdullah government in consultation with former Union home minister P Chidambaram.
Authorities removed five such security pickets from various spots in Srinagar city in February this year in the run-up to the visit of the European Union delegation. Two of them were removed from the Lal Chowk area.
Security agencies have even been advised to set up security pickets removed between 2011 and 2014. This necessitated bringing in 5,500 more paramilitary personnel to Kashmir last week.
The UPA government in 2010 had appointed a three-member interlocutor team, which recommended the removal of the security pickets.
Now, with frequent attacks on civilians and members of minority communities since October 2 this year, authorities recently re-built two pickets at Barzulla bridge on the way to the Bone and Joint Hospital in Srinagar.
Security pickets removed by UPA, coming up again across Kashmir Valley
