The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday took over the investigation of killings of two civilians in Srinagar on October 5, India Today reported. The director general of Jammu and Kashmir Police will write to the home ministry to convey its decision.
Kashmiri Pandit and pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo and Bihari food vendor Virendra Paswan were killed on October 5 in Srinagar. They are among the 12 civilians killed in Kashmir in two weeks. The Resistance Front, believed to be an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for most of the civilian deaths.
The investigation agency is expected to take over four cases from Jammu and Kashmir Police gradually, NDTV reported.
Meanwhile, a new terrorist group called People’s Anti Fascists Front claimed responsibility for the attacks in Poonch district, where nine soldiers have died since last week, The Hindu reported.
In an eight-minute video that has been shared widely on Telegram, the leader of People’s Anti Fascists Front claimed that on October 11 – when five of the nine soldiers died in Poonch – the militants took away the bag belonging to sepoy Harjeet Singh.
An unidentified source from the Army dismissed the video, calling it an “immature attempt at propaganda”.
The Army said that it will verify things on the ground. It has launched a search operation in the forest areas of Poonch and Rajouri to track down the militants that killed nine soldiers.
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