Tons of of Kashmiri Pandit staff have been despatched on administrative depart until twenty fifth of August following a purported risk letter issued by a bunch linked to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Worry gripped Kashmiri Pandit staff after a purported risk letter naming some staff and itemizing their contact particulars was circulated not too long ago.
Official sources say all the workers appointed underneath Prime Minister’s particular employment bundle have been suggested to shift to safer locations. All those that have been named within the risk letter have been safely shifted to Jammu, sources mentioned.
“After the threats, police have suggested us to not attend work, and those that are nonetheless dwelling within the Valley have been requested to not come out of their properties,” mentioned Amit Koul, a Kashmiri Pandit worker.
Police mentioned they’re investigating threats and taking essential safety measures to make sure the security of staff.
“It is a precautionary measure. We’re investigating these threats and taking essential steps to make sure everybody’s security,” mentioned a senior police officer.
Round 6,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been given authorities jobs underneath the Prime Minister’s particular employment bundle rolled out in 2010. It was geared toward facilitating return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandits displaced from their homeland after the outbreak of the secessionist motion in 1990.
In 2022, terrorists carried out focused assaults on these staff, killing 5 Kashmiri pandits. This led to huge protests by PM bundle staff for seven months demanding their switch and posting at Jammu. Whereas the federal government refused to put up these staff in Jammu, they had been shifted and posted at safer areas in Srinagar and different main cities of the Valley.
After a latest assault in Anantnag on July 22, by which a policeman was killed, and a subsequent assault on migrant employees in Kulgam, there are safety issues that terrorists might attempt to perform extra assaults, together with on minorities within the Valley. Officers mentioned the safety and patrolling across the areas inhabited by minorities and pandit staff within the Valley has been intensified.
Amid safety issues, Amarnath Yatra was additionally curtailed and suspended weeks earlier than scheduled end result of the annual pilgrimage. Officers have cited low footfall of pilgrims, climate advisory and restore work of tracks as causes for suspending Yatra from August 9.
A serious safety crackdown has been launched since July 22 within the Valley by which over 3,000 suspects have been detained. Some estimates recommend the variety of arrests is far larger. Police have described the arrested individuals as Over Floor Employees (OGWs), a time period used for these covertly serving to terrorists. Whereas, police have mentioned that the variety of native recruitments into terrorist teams has nearly come to zero, the mass arrests of “OGWs” has confused many about complexities of the state of affairs on the bottom.
