Detentions in J&K cross 3,500 after terrorist killing of police head constable

SRINAGAR: Detentions across Jammu and Kashmir linked to the terrorist killing of head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi rose to 3,500 on Friday, as police intensified their crackdown on suspected sympathisers of armed groups.

A senior police officer said around 700 people were detained for questioning in Srinagar alone since the attack last Wednesday, in which Qureshi was killed while on Amarnath Yatra duty at Lal Chowk in Anantnag. “Due process has been followed in all detentions,” the officer said.

Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat convened a meeting for a comprehensive security review in Srinagar, where officers presented assessments of the prevailing security scenario across the Union territory. “The meeting focused on the current operational environment, threat perception and preparedness of field formations,” a police spokesperson said. “The DGP directed the officers to intensify area domination and night domination, particularly in vulnerable urban areas.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with the slain head constable’s son, after Jammu and Kashmir Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma visited the family at their residence in Lalpora Beerwah of Budgam. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also visited the family and assured them of the administration’s support.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticised the detentions and Thursday’s controlled explosions targeting the family homes of two wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. “I understand the police’s anger. But there is a Supreme Court order that such summary action should not be taken,” he said.

Recalling his first stint as Chief Minister when J&K was a state, Abdullah said he knew “at the time that this problem (terrorism) cannot be resolved without the people’s support.” He said the backlash against terrorist outfits after last year’s attack on tourists in Pahalgam showed that ordinary people do not support them. “Even today, people are angry that a police head constable has been killed so brutally. But when the number of arrests rises from hundreds to 2,000 or 2,500, that public anger risks being redirected against us. I hope we take our people along with us in this fight,” he added.

Former Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said detaining thousands and demolishing the family homes of two “alleged” terrorists “amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy.” People’s Conference chairperson Sajad Lone warned that the police’s response to one of their own being killed by terrorists would “do more harm.”