Security huddle on J&K migrants begin to leave

The Jammu & Kashmir administration moved thousands of non-local workers to "safer areas” overnight and through the day, while hundreds others left the Valley after a string of targeted attacks on minorities and civilians, including those from outside the Union Territory, officials said on Monday.

- Mir Ehsan

SRINAGAR:

Terrorists have killed ll civilians, including five labourers from outside Kashmir, this month, and multiple gunfights have broken out during operations by security forces to find those responsible for the attacks. The wave of violence prompted deliberations at a security huddle in New Delhi, where Union home minister Amit Shah directed top officials to deal with the flare-up on priority as a multi-agency pan-Indian effort was underway to neutralise Pakistan linked threats in the region.

On Monday, inside Srinagar's main railway station in Nowgam, dozens of people, mostly workers from other states, could be seen anxiously waiting for a train that would take them to Banihal in the Jammu division. One of those waiting was Jitendra (who gave only one name). Jitendra, from Bihar, made a living by selling ice cream from a cart in Habba Kadal in Srinagar's old city, but following the targeted killings, he decided to leave. He left his rented accommodation early in the morning along with six other men to catch the train to Banihal, the first leg of their journey.

Cabs, buses, trains, workers from outside the UT jumped onto whatever mode of transport was available on Monday, after another targeted attack on some workers at Wanpoh in Kulgam district on Sunday night that left two dead and another grievously injured.

Many spent the night in camps set up by security forces or in police stations.