After a decade long break, cordon and search operations have resumed in Kishtwar district of Chenab Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, a report in news agency Kashmir News Trust by journalist Neyaz Elahi stated.
The report says that from past two days, armed forces have continuously brought certain areas under siege after receiving inputs about the presence of at least three militants in certain areas of the district.
A local from Kishtwar said that a cordon and search operation was launched in different areas of Kishtwar district including Semna, Shaheedi Gali, Malik Mohalla and adjacent localities. The armed personnel not only frisked locals but also conducted house to house searches.
“Last time these localities witnessed such operations was back in 2005,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, police claimed that they had arrested a Hizb sympathizer Touseef Ahmed Gandoo who had been trying to revive militancy in the valley. His family later refuted the claims.
Touseef is the son of top Hurriyat (G) leader of Kishtwar, Ghulam Nabi Gandoo. Gandoo is a close confidant of Joint Resistance Leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Earlier, Jammu shut in protest against attempts to abrogate Article 35-A. Shutdown was also observed in Chenab Valley areas of Doda, Bhaderwah, Banihal, Thathri, Gandoh and Kishtwar. The Supreme Court of India adjourned the hearing of petitions against Article 35-A in the Constitution to January next year.
This came after Jammu and Kashmir government approached the SC seeking adjournment of the hearing.
In a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court and circulated, M Shoeb Alam, the standing counsel for the state in the apex court, sought adjournment of hearing on five petitions scheduled for Friday, by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
According to Intelligence reports, agencies had warned about the revolt in the police ranks in a written communication to the state government.
People across the political and regional divide have come together to protest against attempts to revoke Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution which empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
Recently, National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval at a book launch on Sardar Vallabhai Patel on Tuesday said that having a separate constitution for Jammu and Kashmir was ‘probably an aberration’ and stressed on the fact that sovereignty can never be compromised.
(With inputs from CNS)
