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J&K policemen rattled by militant attacks

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

The killings earlier this week of local policemen by armed militants is being described by analysts as a sort of 'blitzkrieg' against the Kashmir police.

Eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police, Special Operations Group, have been killed in the troubled Valley. Six policemen on duty at various places in and around the high security Lal Chowk or Red Square were killed by militants from close range with silencer-fitted weapons. These incidents "have shattered the myth of high security and brought into sharp focus the vulnerability of areas like Lal Chowk," says a shopkeeper.

The killings in Lal Chowk and the adjoining Residency Road triggered off high panic with residents scurrying for security. Lal Chowk is considered as the "most secure area" in Srinagar, with the Border Security Force and local police deployed in strength for maintenance of law and order.

The attacks on local police followed deadly strikes by militants in high security areas including the civil secretariat and the Badami Bagh cantonment. "Monday's attacks were a setback. It did affect the morale of the police force which has been slowly and steadily trying to reassert itself," admits a senior police officer.

He adds, "After the recent attacks on high security areas the police had taken several measures including putting nakas (checkposts) on all main routes to check passers-by and vehicles."

"Ours is the most difficult job. No one is happy with us, not even our officers. It is not the killing of cops but the way they struck simultaneously from Lal Chowk to Batmallo that has shattered our confidence," says Abdul Rashid, a policeman being guarded by his colleagues in Srinagar.

The attacks have created fresh problems for the police force, which is already under-trained and without sophisticated weapons. "Now we move around only in groups, unlike in the past when we would move around freely even at the peak of insurgency in Kashmir," says another policeman wishing anonymity. "We have to now guard each policeman in city and rural areas. And that is not possible. Our resources are limited. Our problems are only multiplying with each day."

Such was the fear triggered off by the attacks that the state Director General of Police Gurbachan Jagat, who has been leading his force from the front, had to airdash to Srinagar to supervise the security arrangements and to boost the morale of his men. He is camping in Srinagar and for the past two days the police chief has been meeting officers and jawans, assuring them off all help.

At a series of high level meetings that the DGP held with senior officers, it was decided to change the "pattern of deployment". Now cops in groups of three to four will be deployed in the city centre with at least three of them being armed. And to instil confidence among the local police force, cops are being provided with bullet-proof vests. The state government has immediately ordered more weapons for all the police stations so that every jawan carries with him either a .303 or an automatic rifle. Already the government has provided each nakaparty with portable bullet-proof bunkers for use in emergency. The state police plans to provide the force with bullet-proof helmets also.

With militants shunning their previous strategy of hit-and-run attacks, the local police chief believes his revised plans to deal with the situation will yield results.

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