The Rajouri killings case has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a thorough probe, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday, adding that a 360 degree net will be cast to wipe out militancy from the Jammu region.
Shah chaired a high-level security meeting in Jammu in view of the January 1 attack in which six civilians from minority communities were killed by militants.
Shah arrived in Jammu in the morning to meet the families of the victims, but could not travel to Upper Dhangri in Rajouri due to bad weather.
“All of us (security agencies) have agreed to cast a 360 degree net to wipe out militancy from the region,” he said at a press conference after the meeting.
Flanked by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the home minister said it was decided that the security grid of Jammu would be strengthened on all fronts in a time-bound manner. “In three-months from now, the security grid will be further strengthened across Jammu.”
Shah informed that the Jammu police will work jointly with the NIA to bring the culprits of the Rajouri killings to justice. The NIA will also probe all the militancy related incidents that took place in the region in the past one and-a-half years, he said.
Shah further claimed that that security agencies in Jammu are alert and committed to wipe-out terror, its ecosystem and the OGW network and also to act against those providing logistic support to militancy.
To a question about not meeting the families of Rajouri attack victims, the home minister said there was a bad weather advisory for the next three days.
“I will come again and surely meet the families of the victims,’’ he said, adding that he had already spoken to them over phone and assured them of all support.
Replying to another question, Shah said the decision to strengthen the Village Defence Committees had been taken in August last year and the move needs not be linked with the Rajouri incident.
Asked about the attacks on the minority communities in the region, he said the security forces have been giving a befitting reply to every plan of the perpetrators. “If we go by the figures, minority killings are far less compared to previous years,’’ he said.
About the security situation in J&K, the home minister said the issue needs to be seen right from the day when “terrorism was born”.
“I can tell you surely that the situation is much better than what it was earlier. Civilian killings were reduced post abrogation of Article 370,” he claimed.
