Innocents should not be affected in efforts to catch Pahalgam terrorists: CM Omar

Srinagar|May, 6 : Amid security tightening in Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam attack, and multiple days of unprovoked small arms firing along the Line of Control (LOC) by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday raised concern over making sure that innocent locals are not affected due to the new security measures. He said that while the efforts are ongoing to catch the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack, it is also important to ensure that this doesn’t “affect the innocent people of Jammu & Kashmir.”
Chief Minister here on Tuesday told reporters “We all understand the situation here, we cannot ignore it or refuse its existence, but we must look into it so that we don’t affect the innocent people of Jammu & Kashmir in our efforts to catch those who were involved in the Pahalgam attack. We have conveyed this concern of ours where we can”. “It should not look like that to catch a few perpetrators, we are arresting multiple locals. We need to be careful and take steps logically,” Abdullah added.
Meanwhile amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the deadly Pahalgam attack, security has been heightened in multiple areas in the valley, including in Poonch and Rajouri districts, with police officials setting up vehicle check points on multiple roads. Visuals from Poonch and Rajouri showed security forces checking vehicles randomly, asking IDs from the people and sometimes checking bags of people too.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has also directed states to carry our mock drills on civil defence to enhance civil defence preparedness. The personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are conducting a mock drill at Dal Lake, Srinagar, focusing on a boat capsize scenario.
An SDRF personnel, Arif Hussain, said, “Yesterday we received an order to do a mock drill regarding boat capsize… We will demonstrate how to use our equipment. We are here following that (MHA) order.”
Meanwhile several high-ranking officials, including DG Civil Defence and DG NDRF on Tuesday arrived at the Ministry of Home Affairs for the meeting called by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan regarding the conduct of mock drills for effective Civil Defence across the nation on May 7.