How involving SHOs of local police stations will stop targeted killing of minorities in J&K

Officials tell OneIndia that Shah will direct the civil administration to take more steps to secure the minority community.

New Delhi, Jun 03: There has been a sustained effort by Pakistan's ISI to keep the Valley on the boil.

The number of targeted killings especially of minorities has gone up in the past couple of days.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level meeting today to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and also take steps to restore normalcy. Officials tell OneIndia that Shah will direct the civil administration to take more steps to secure the minority community.

The police on the other hand would involve the Station House Officers (SHO) of the local police stations.

This would mean that the SHO would play a bigger role in the security of the civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. This was a strategy that was used in the late 80s and 90s in Punjab and it helped the administration wipe out the Khalistan movement from the state.

The involvement of the SHOs of the local police stations in counter terror operations would be of great help in solving the problem. The SHOs have their ears closer to the ground and this would help a great deal in gathering intelligence, the official cited above said.

Involving the local police at the lowest levels has also helped in eradicating several top terrorists in the Valley. The huge success rate at which the terrorists have been gunned down is thanks to the cooperation from the J&K police and the actionable intelligence they provided.

Further the civil administration in J&K would also be more discreet so as to ensure that the innocent civilians are not identified. This would help to ensure that these individuals are not singled out and targeted.

The meetings will be headed by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah and will be attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, the Intelligence chiefs and the chief secretary and Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir.

The prime focus of the meeting tomorrow would be on the targeted killings and also on how to secure the minority community. There have been 8 targeted killings since May, including one of a bank manager which took place today.

An official tells OneIndia that these targeted killings orchestrated by the ISI backed Lashkar-e-Tayiba is clearly aimed at driving fear and ensure that the minorities are driven out of the Union Territory.