After three cop killings in Srinagar and subsequently a few more in south, security scenario across Kashmir witnessed a sharp spike. But in many cases especially in the capital city, the reinforcement is pointing at the larger plots at play, reports Bilal Handoo
It may sound like a proverbial cock-and-bull story dished out by sleuth-spy network, but then there are half a dozen police chiefs across the board testifying its authenticity. They say at the heart of security spike in Srinagar and perhaps the return of long-gone gunmen in summer capital is one lately captured Soura boy. Among other things, the ‘prized catch’ has revealed a twisted plot at play in city.
It began on May 23 when the three cop killings shattered an uneasy calm in Srinagar. Last such fatal attack on cops in city had happened on June 22, 2013 at Hari Singh High Street, leaving two cops dead. J&K police chief K Rajendra was quick to denounce the attacks as a “desperate bid” by militants to show their presence in “militancy-free” city.
Later that evening, on May 23, cops made creepy movements in Sarai Bala Srinagar and killed two tenants-turned-“Pak militants” in what cops called a perfect in’tel-based operation.
With five killings in less than 12 hours, the dormant mood of the capital city suddenly appeared dangerous. What further triggered fears was the security setup’s curt response to heighten the security across Srinagar spearheaded by state police’s counterinsurgency wings, Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Special Operations Group (SOG).
But in an ensued security situation, even regular sleuths failed to peep beyond the visible. By then, one significant lead had taken cops to the Soura youth’s address. The ‘big boy’ had his own share in militant history. He had joined militant ranks in 2008 with his Pulwama schoolmate. After wandering in south Kashmir woods for two months, he had surrendered while his friend was killed in an encounter. Since then, the cops say, the boy had distanced himself from militancy. But local sleuths keeping close eye on him were sure of his over ground activities. Lately, when he was arrested for questioning, he blew the cover over Srinagar’s covert militancy moves.
What followed was quite uncharacteristic of post-2010 Srinagar. Three cordon and search operations took place. First at Baghi Mehtab, SOG stormed a residence. The house owner acknowledged the militant presence, but said: “They just left!”
Next the cops showed up at HMT, where again they were told that militants fled minutes before their arrival. One cop part of the nocturnal raid terms it: “a hunting going haywire.”
They next laid cordon and search operation in Bemina, where they claimed busting of a hideout. Although such in’tel-based inputs did spike up the security situation in Srinagar, but there were other triggers, too.
In Srinagar, this summer is turning out to be a ‘scorching’ one — especially from security point of view. As per the intelligence gathering reports, three city youth are missing. The trio, the reports claim, have joined the militant ranks. Those three cordon and search operations, says a cop, were mainly conducted to hunt the trio hailing from HMT, Parimpora and old city’s Fateh Kadal.
The revelation that three youth from Srinagar have joined the militant ranks came close to the Bemina man’s killing. Passed as a militant, some cops are making a few intriguing revelations about Tanvir, the slain Bemina man. They have traced his call details from Tral, Padgampore, Kulgam and other restive place of south Kashmir known for militancy. His movements were even located in Delhi, Jammu and other places.
Still the biggest revelation about the slain man was the weapon recovered from his possession. Cops claim that it was the same weapon snatched from a slain cop Mohammad Sadiq at Tengpora on May 23—the day three cops were killed in city. “From the butt number of AK-56 recovered from him,” says a police officer who was part of the operation, “we established the identity of the weapon and could join the dots between two the incidents.” However, the officer says, Tanvir wasn’t a militant. “He was only a courier boy who had started looking very dangerous because of his movements.”
But what is intriguing in this whole case is the ‘cop silence’. Otherwise known for calling hurriedly-conveyed pressers in view of “breakthroughs”, the 100 thousand strong police is silent despite claiming to have established a link between the cop killings and the Bemina boy.
Amid silence and repeated attacks on cops, a video statement released by Hizb commander Burhan Wani warned cops of consequences for their involvement in anti-militancy operations. The threat triggered mixed reactions in police rank and file. While some senior cops were advised to stay away from public gatherings, including mosques during Ramazan, others shrugged off the warning as “another publicity stunt” by the new face of Kashmir’s militancy.
But the fact is, says one senior cop from north Kashmir whose backyard lately resounded with two back-to-back grenade attacks, “earlier combatant used to fight combatant.” But now, he says, it seems the whole police station is fighting jihad against militancy than doing the normal policing. He quotes an example of Khanyar Police Station literally turned into a security fortress these days. “This is where,” the cop says, “it is becoming problematic.”
Perhaps to undo that, the combatants, especially SOGs, were called in to head the operations in city and countryside. The fact that SOG is calling major shots in Srinagar and elsewhere at the moment is also creating a chaos of sorts. “In an event of arrest or raid,” says a DySp rank officer, “people or media usually call us to get details. The fact is, we don’t know who is doing what. If for example SOG is involved, we don’t know what they are upto. They follow their own procedure. Being in operations, they are directly under the command of IGP Kashmir.”
But with “chickens finally coming home to roost” first time after 2010, the officer says, it won’t be wrong to say that the ‘combative pendulum’ has now shifted to Srinagar. However, if it’s an apparent ‘resurgence’ in city, then it’s an apparent ‘resurrection’ in north Kashmir.
The intelligence reports have it that Lashkar-e-Islam’s poster boy Qayoom Najar whose group claimed to kill six persons in Sopore last year is revitalizing militancy in north. Najar along with his associate Imtiyaz Kandoo had gone to Pakistan shortly after ‘Sopore suspense’ where they were tasked to perk up the militancy in the belt with the help of 35 “guest militants”, says an intelligence officer. In recent gunfights in Sopore, he says, around half a dozen militants have been “neutralised”. But what the officer didn’t tell is how the current dormant phase of Sopore is being read as dangerous by certain agencies. “Sopore might go berserk at any moment,” they fear.
In far off corner of the north Kashmir, around 70 militants—mainly Pak-trained Lashkar are testing the ‘military nerve’ at the moment. Akin to north to south Kashmir militant movement after Lashkar commander Abdullah Uni’s killing in fall 2011, the similar movement was recently detected when a group of 15 militants shifted from Bandipora to south Kashmir. Behind the move is said to be the south Kashmir’s homogeneous populace— “a safe haven” for militants.
In fact in south Kashmir, Islamabad is being predicted as the “new militant territory” after years of hush. Till recently, it used to act as transient route for militants to move to bordering districts of Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam—the triple terrain known to produce and house militants. And in the course, it reportedly left the footprints and boosted the local morale for the ‘movement’.
This talk of ‘pendulum shift’ has made security situation edgy in many parts of valley. In Pulwama, however, an apparent budge is seen. Although the same district also witnessed a cop killing lately, but the Pulwama police chief Rayees Mohammad Bhat is upbeat to prevent the rebel from being rampant in his zone. “We are resorting to people-centric policing which has clicked for us,” says SP Bhat. But even then, policing Pulwama that is in news for “new militancy” for a while now isn’t that pushover — especially when the militants are increasingly attacking the highway these days.
“In coming days,” says a cop, “the highway will pose a great challenge to security agencies.” But what is the rationale behind attacking the highway? “Simple,” says the cop, “the militants want to send a strong message by hitting our strategic driveway.”
Amid ‘highway concerns’, what lately thawed an apparent public mood in Pulwama was the baffling arrest of Burhan Wani’s associate, Tariq Pandith—the yesterday’s militant thought as the today’s mole. Pandith’s arrest and subsequent busting of Burhan group’s hideouts made the locals certain how human intelligence is doing wonders for the security grid. Out of this realisation comes a sense: suspect all.
In fact many police officers don’t keep it a secret anymore as how they mainly rely on the local handlers for tracing militants, especially Pak militants. “Usually,” says a police officer, “the Pak militants come to Kashmir with Madrassa-fed image of Jihad. But after arriving in Kashmir, they get confused seeing a normal picture of the place. This is where their local handlers already working for police manage their trap.”
The officer asserts that the two “Pakistani militants” killed at Sarai Bala on May 23 were already in contact with their handler and that their location was already known to police. “We needed a right time to strike,” he says. “With three cops getting killed in city on March 23, we eliminated them by evening.” This was how police was able to manage the panic perceptions to almost perfection.
Based on this human intelligence network, many in Khaki brigade think it is unwise on part of guerrillas to go against them. “It is suicidal on part of militants to go against us,” says one cop, coming from the village where majority is serving in police department. “There are certain villagers in south Kashmir itself where out of 100 men, 97 are in police. Now imagine a situation, if they go against the rest of the 3 men-turned-militants?”
Apparent morale might be high in police force, but still the worrying factor remains to maintain calm over Srinagar where emergence of sleeper cells is posing a new challenge to them. In fact lately when police managed to zero in on a house in Batamaloo, it surfaced that it was constructed by Hizb and dwelled by its OGW working as salesman in the city. “The house was operating like a rebel capital within a summer capital,” asserts a cop. On another occasion lately, when six “guest militants” on way to Pulwama slipped police at Lawaypora, the security setup declared high alert in city.
But there is one in’tel that has apparently made armed wing of police to man streets of Srinagar and periphery with cocked guns at the moment, and that is: the gunmen are trying to strike big in city.
But, how?
“By killing some top cop,” the in’tel claims.
