Dark Jammu sitting duck for attacks

JAMMU, FEBRUARY 15:

November 14, 1999: 13 people are injured, two of them seriously, when an Improvised Explosive Device IED goes off in busy Residency Road area. Before police can react, the militants escape.

January 27, 2000: Militants attack residence of Javed Shah, former counter insurgent-turned-legislator in Roop Nagar, just 3 km from the city.

They hurl in a grenade which misses the intended target and explodes near by. Before fleeing they also open fire with their assault rifles at his residence. Due to the darkness, the guards fail to spot any militant.Luckily, there is no loss of life or property.

January 28: At about 3.30 am, there is an IED blast inside a car parked in the Company Bagh flats. The explosion is so strong that the window panes of the adjoining buildings are also shattered.

February 11: Militants plant an IED with RDX at Krishna Nagar locality in the heart of Jammu city killing 5 and injuring 25, three of them seriously.

The common threadrunning through all these incidents is the power breakdown that prevailed. And intelligence agencies have repeatedly cautioned the police about the increase in the number of such incidents when there is a blackout on.

As a result, whenever the power goes off after sundown, the residents of Jammu are always wary of such attacks. And not without reason. In the past months, the city has faced power cuts lasting roughly 12 hours every day. Militants, naturally, have taken full advantage of the darkness to attack and escape without getting noticed. Worse, the blackout also prevents the injured from getting prompt medical aid. In Krishna Nagar blast, residents couldn8217;t find Maneesh lying in a pool of blood because there was no lighting. He later succumbed to his injuries.

8220;Despite all this, the government is taking no steps to keep the power supply on in the evening. Instead, CM Farooq Abdullah has been saying at various public functions that he will go in for more power cuts to tackle the financialconstraints the state is presently undergoing,8221; said Som Nath Dabgotra of Jammu Kashmir Vikas Party, who has sat on a hunger strike demanding stopping of power cuts for three hours from 6 pm onwards. 8220;Where does he Farooq get money for his helicopter, which he often uses for unofficial functions, sometimes even to attend birthdays,8221; said an agitated resident while looking at the blood and flesh splattered all over the walls of targeted buildings in Krishna Nagar.

Police too feel that power-cuts in the evenings is a major impediment to solving the cases or apprehending those responsible for these crimes. Speaking to The Indian Express, RV Raju, IG, Jammu region, said that power shutdown in the evenings was a great security threat in a militancy-hit state like Jamp;K. However, he denied their failure of not acting on intelligence reports.

8220;These reports are not specific. And we should realise that it is not a ne-day game. We are fighting a war,8221; Raju clarified. But a senior intelligence officer allegedthat on several occasions, they have even given police the names of a particular militant trying to carry out blasts in a particular area.