Pahalgam attack: J&K LG holds meet with security brass

NEW DELHI: Concurrent to the Prime Minister-led cabinet committee on security (CCS) discussing likely retaliation against the cross-border conspirators of Pahalgam attack, J&K LG Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level meeting with the security brass in Jammu, directing them to dismantle the terror eco-system by crushing all local support to the perpetrators.

The meeting -- which took stock of the security situation in the wake of the Pahalgam carnage -- was attended by J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat, J&K principal secretary (home) Chandraker Bharti, additional DGP in charge of CID Nitish Kumar, principal secretary to LG Mandeep K. Bhandari, IGP Jammu Bhim Sen Tuti, and DIG of Jammu-Samba-Kathua Range Shiv Kumar Sharma.

"The LG insisted that there should be resolute action against the local terrorists and overground workers who facilitate Pakistani terrorists here; the terror infrastructure permanently dismantled and local supporters dealt with firmly. At the same time, care should be taken to protect innocent Kashmiris," a source told TOI.

Investigations so far into the Pahalgam attack point to the prominent role of local terrorists and overground workers (OGWs) in guiding, arranging logistics, reconnaissance of the attack site and charting the escape routes of the Pakistani assailants. The J&K police has since demolished the houses of over a dozen Kashmir OGWs, in a clear message that their families will have a heavy price to pay. Nearly 2,000 OGWs have been rounded up for questioning so far, with 15 emerging as suspects for having helped the Pahalgam attackers.