In Kashmir, Amit Shah Starts His Day By Visiting Slain Cop's Family

A day after the Union Home Minister Amit Shah conducted a review meeting of the security arrangements for Amarnath Yatra, he started Thursday morning by visiting the house Inspector Arshad Khan at Bal Garden in Karan Nagar in Srinagar who was killed in an encounter earlier this month.

Khan was killed in an encounter with militants in Anantnag area of South Kashmir on June 12. He is survived by his sons, wife, parents and a brother. Khan enjoyed the reputation of a brave officer and the police force described his killing as an immense loss.

Along with Khan, five CRPF personnel were also killed in the terror attack, in which a lone Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants targeted a patrol team of the paramilitary force.

Khan, the SHO of Saddar Police station in Anantnag, reached the site soon after.

The moment he stepped out of his official bulletproof vehicle, along with his service rifle, a barrage of bullets were fired by the terrorist. One ricocheted from the butt of his service rifle and hit his liver and duodenum, officials had said.

Even in that condition, the officer kept firing bullets at the terrorist before he collapsed, they had said

On Wednesday, presiding over a high-level meeting, Shah laid a series of guidelines to ensure foolproof security in the state ahead of the annual Yatra. J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and senior officers of MHA, State Government and security Agencies were also present in the meeting.

Shah directed all security agencies to be fully alert and take all preventive steps to ensure violence-free Yatra. He said there should be no laxity. He called for strict enforcement of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and said senior officers should personally supervise the arrangements.

The guidelines read that forces should ensure best-possible and optimum use of the latest technologies and gadgets not only for securing the Yatra but also to facilitate the movement of the devotees and the tourists. He specifically drew the attention of the forces towards anti-sabotage as well as anti-subversion drills and the access control procedures.

The home Minister underlined the importance of the Standard Operating Procedure for convoy movement and specifically harped on the points that timely dispatch of convoys should be ensured. After the cut-off timings, barricades should be erected at suitable locations and no differentiation should be made between Yatris and Tourists. "Barricades are to be used at all lateral entry points during convoy movement. All lateral points should be manned 24x7. Besides attending to a medical emergency, preparedness must also be ensured to deal with any type of calamity or contingency. Specialized units and trained personnel should be in place with due focus on the prescribed drills for the purpose," he said.

"Best possible facilities should be provided in the base camps," he added.

There should be no complacency on the part of security forces or duty staff at any point of time during the whole Yatra period, Shah emphasised. Whereas he advised all the security forces and various agencies to continue taking strict action against miscreants, Home Minister also reiterated the need to cover all the sensitive and vulnerable places including possible points of infiltration all throughout the State, in order to obviate any type of risk to the Yatra.

Shah, during his visit to J&K, also took a detailed review of various development schemes and projects in the State.

The review meeting in Srinagar was attended by the Governor, Union Home Secretary, all the four Advisors, Chief Secretary and Senior officials of the State and Central Government. The development review meeting focused on accelerating development, building infrastructure, good governance, inclusive growth for all communities, employment generating scheme for the youth to name a few. Shah asked the State Government to ensure that poorest of the poor of Jammu and Kashmir should get the benefits of Good Governance in all spheres.

He said the State Public Service Delivery Act should be strictly enforced. "Wide publicity should be given to the services already covered under the Act and more services should be brought under its ambit," he added.

"Newly established Anti-Corruption Bureau should be strengthened. Cases of rampant corruption by the High and Mighty should be taken up on priority for fast track investigations," he said.

"State Officers should fully be sensitive towards the balanced development of all the three regions-- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. He added the Public hearing programmes should be supervised by the Advisors, Secretaries and Collectors. He said investments for generating large scale employment opportunities for the local youth should be facilitated. "Renowned educational and health institutions should also be motivated to establish their Institutions in the State," he added.

"All vacancies in the State Government should be filled up in a time-bound manner," he added,

He said all the major development projects announced by the Prime Minister should be completed in a time bound manner. Union Home Minister also said that he would regularly review the performance achieved in all the development projects.