Srinagar The death toll of CRPF jawans in the February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to cross 40, though paramilitary officials in Srinagar officially confirmed only 37 deaths so far.
A police official, on the condition of anonymity, said the death toll has touched 42, after five critically injured jawans succumbed at the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar. At least two more jawans are battling for the life in the hospital, he added.
Rajnath Singh to visit
Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Srinagar on Friday afternoon to take stock of the situation. He will hold review meetings with senior security and police officials to make ground-level assessments and review further operational actions.
An NIA team comprising forensic experts was on its way to Pulwama.
An official said that arrangements were being done to airlift the bodies of the deceased personnel.
During his visit to Srinagar, Mr. Singh will be accompanied by CRPF DG R.R. Bhatnagar and other senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He will leave New Delhi in a special BSF plane around 11.30 a.m. on Friday.
Forty-four jawans were either left dead or critically injured when a 20-year-old suicide bomber, also a resident of Pulwama, drove an explosive-laden SUV that rammed into a CRPF convoy near Lethpora on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway around 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. It was also followed by firing in the area. The convoy of over 70 vehicles was heading towards Srinagar when the attacker damaged at least two vehicles after blowing his own vehicle.
An alert has been issued in the entire Jammu and Kashmir after the attack, which saw the highest casualty in any single attack since militancy started in the State in 1989.
There are voices emerging for change in standard operating procedures of convoy movement in the volatile Kashmir valley. Former J&K Director General of Police S.P Vaid has suggested airlifting of jawans. “It’s safer and less time consuming to airlift jawans proceeding on leave from Srinagar to Delhi and back,” said Mr. Vaid in a tweet.
Several political parties have called for a shutdown in Jammu following the attack. The authorities have stopped internet services in Jammu as a precautionary measure. Mobile internet was slowed in Kashmir valley after the attack.
JeM releases video
The militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that claimed responsibility for the attack, has released the video of the suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar alias ‘Waqas Commando’, a resident of Pulwama’s Kakapora. According to police, Dar, 20, joined the outfit in 2018 and is a Class 10 dropout.
“We have given you enough pain during the IC 814 hijacking (in 1999), Nagrota camp killing (in 2016). From the Pathankot airbase attack to Pulwama police line to the BSF camp attacks, we are stronger than before. Do not think that we will get disheartened by deaths of our commandos. It makes us stronger,” says the fidayeen, purportedly in a video uploaded on the social media.
He also mentioned that by the time “people will watch this video, I will be in heaven”.
According to the police, Dar became the second local fidayeen of JeM to carry out an attack, since December 30, 2017. Earlier, Fardeen Khanday also participated in a fidayeen attack and released a video.
Governor Satya Pal Malik blames mainstream parties
Governor Satya Pal Malik has blamed regional parties for "vitiating atmosphere in J&K".
"The kind of statements issued by mainstream leaders like 'New Delhi playing with fire' had created an atmosphere. There is a trend where a mainstream leader reaches a militant's house for solidarity. They should stop doing it," said Mr. Malik, in an oblique reference to People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti.
"I am stunned at his refusal to acknowledge the grave security lapse despite intelligence inputs. Why were 2000 CRPF men allowed to travel in a convoy? Is air travel only for political elites? Defies common sense. Easy to blame us. J&K is under the Governor's rule so he can't abdicate responsibility," Ms. Mufti responded.
