The massacre in Pulwama may have been the outcome of security around Kashmiri Pandits living in the Kashmir valley being scaled down in the run-up to the assembly elections in September-October last year, official sources told PTI in Jammu on Tuesday.

This followed a review of the security setup, in August last year, the sources told PTI.

At places, more than half of the security personnel were withdrawn, they said.

For example, at Nadimarg village housing 87 Kashmiri Pandits, of the 28 policemen deployed on security duty, 19 had been withdrawn before the assembly elections.

As many as 1,535 Kashmiri Pandit families comprising 7,523 people are living at 271 places across the Kashmir valley, the sources said.

Of these 557 families consisting of 2,228 people are living in Srinagar district, 112 families (425 persons) in Budgam, 313 families (1,404 people) in Baramulla, 16 families (64 people) in Kupwara, 419 families (1,859 people) in Anantnag and 118 families (1,543 people) in Pulwama district, they added.

After first massacre of 25 Pandits at Wadhama (Ganderbal) Srinagar on January 26, 1997, the then National Conference government had deployed security personnel at all places where Kashmiri Pandits were living in the valley, the sources said.

After killings in Sangramepur (March 20, 1998 -- 9 Pandits killed), Tailwani (January 28, 2000 -- 5 Pandits killed), Chattisinghpura (March 20, 2000 -- 35 Sikhs killed) and Mehjoor Nagar (February 3, 2001 -- 8 Sikhs killed), security was upgraded and nearly 1200 policemen were deployed at these places, they said.

"There was a security lapse and we will probe as to why security around Pandits was downgraded,” J&K Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

In fact, a senior police officer in Jammu said that a review meeting would be held on Tuesday to take a fresh look at the security scenario concerning Pandits.