J&K governor N.N.
J&K governor N.N. Vohra on Tuesday and Wednesday reviewed the state’s security situation at separate meetings with senior officials of civil administration police and Central intelligence agencies and a senior Army commander. These meeting were held at Raj Bhavan in winter capital Jammu in the backdrop of recent reports that militant outfits are planning stepped up activities in the sensitive border state. Also, the head of a regional affiliate of the Islamic State recently claimed that militants in Kashmir have pledged allegiance to the group, providing it a “big opportunity” to expand its “caliphate” to the area. Hafiz Saeed Khan, who was named the IS chief for Khurasan, made the claim during an interview to the group’s online magazine Dabiq.
Though the officials of various security forces and intelligence agencies have in the recent past maintained that the Islamic State was not an immediate threat to Jammu and Kashmir, they seem to be in no mood to take the assertions such as that from Hafiz Saeed Khan lightly either. Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) SJM Gilani had a day after Khan’s interview to Dabiq said the State police was “fully ready to take the IS militants head-on in case they step in Kashmir.”
A statement issued in Jammu on Wednesday said that while reiterating the importance of continuing vigil over the situation and maintaining close coordination amongst all the concerned organizations, Governor Mr. Vohra “stressed the importance of immediate action being taken on reports received from different quarters relating to the security environment”.
The meeting was attended by J&K’s Chief Secretary B.R. Sharma, Director General of Police K. Rajendra Kumar, Home Secretary R.K. Goyal, Principal Secretary to Governor P.K. Tripathi, Inspector General CID A.G. Mir besides senior officers of Central intelligence agencies. Separately, Major General Sanjeev Narain, General Officer in Commanding of Army 26 Division met the Governor to brief him on the obtaining security situation in his area of responsibility, an official spokesman said.
