Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday refuted reports suggesting that the non-local workers have been asked to leave the Kashmir Valley following Sunday’s terror attack in which a local doctor and six construction workers-both local and non-local- were killed and several others injured at Gagangir along the Srinagar-Ladakh highway in the Ganderbal district.
The official sources said forty suspects have been detained by the police and they are hopeful of tracking down the assailants soon. On Tuesday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited the terror attack site and inquired from the officers about the investigation process and the operation launched jointly by the J&K police, the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) immediately after the incidents to track down the assailants.
In a post on ‘X’, the Kashmir zone police quoting IGP (Kashmir) V.K. Birdhi said, “Social media reports claiming the local administration has asked non-local workers to leave the Valley are false. The Jammu and Kashmir Police is committed to ensure security and fostering a safe environment for all individuals to pursue their livelihoods without fear or intimidation” It added, “General public is advised not to pay heed to such false information on social media platforms.”
Earlier former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had asked J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and prevent exodus of non-local labourers from the Valley.
She wrote on ‘X’, “After the barbaric attack at Sonamarg there are reports that the local administration is pressurising non-local labourers to leave the Valley immediately. While I understand their obvious sense of panic but asking them to leave in this manner is not a solution.”
She had cautioned that the leaving of non-local workers will create more difficulties and send a negative message to the country. “(It) Will only create more difficulties and send a very bad message to the country. J&K recently witnessed peaceful terror free elections, and this knee jerk reaction will only prove otherwise,” she said. She added, “Might also cause outrage against Kashmiris working and studying in other states. Request Chief Minister Omar Abdullah & LG Manoj Sinhajii to intervene and at least give them enough time.”
Replying to her post, the Ganderbal police said, “The recent post in the social media about non-local labourers being asked to leave, is completely baseless. The J&K police is committed to maintain security and a sense of safety to all intending to earn their livelihood”.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mr. Abdullah on Tuesday visited the family of the slain Dr Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar in the Valley’s central district of Budgam to offer his condolences to the bereaved family. He assured all possible help from the government to the family and that he would personally bear the education expenses of the shooting victim’s son.
