J-K police are screening the antecedents of people hailing from other states. People, particularly the thousands of daily wage earners from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh staying here, are being photographed and their names, addresses and police records being scrutinised. The exercise is being undertaken to weed out militants masquerading as non-Kashmiri labourers.The process was speeded up after police killed a top commander of a Pakistan-based militant outfit who was posing as a garment seller. Police say some militants, in the guise of labourers, were coordinating militant activities in J-K.‘‘Yes, we have started registering them (outsiders),’’ says Suraj Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Soura, the place where the militant commander was killed in a joint police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) operation. IGP K Rajendra says, ‘‘we are primarily keeping tabs on rented places and our police stations across the state are being extra vigilant so that subversive elements don’t sneak into residential areas. It’s nothing unprecedented. We are only keeping vigil.’’Thousands of outsiders, especially, skilled and unskilled labourers from different parts of the country, work in the Valley. Most of them stay in Chanpora, Abi Guzar, Sarai Bala, Natipora, Dalgate, Hazratbal, Soura, Hawal and Barbar Shah areas of Srinagar. There is also a large presence of these labourers in Anantnag, Baramulla and Kupwara, besides Lashjan where they work in brick kilns.Srinagar police say that the registration was started a few months back. However, it was accelerated after police killed deputy chief commander of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Shahbaz Ahmad alias Shahbaz, of Sialkot, Pakistan. The militant, police said, was masquerading as a garment dealer. Police say Shahbaz was coordinating military operations of the outfit in Srinagar.At each police station, a separate register has been maintained to register non-Kashmiri workers. According to police, outsiders are being photographed, and their details being sent for verification to police stations of the place they hail from.‘‘Our police station has registered more than 100 outsiders,’’ says SHO, Kothibagh, Shabir Ahmad. ‘‘Our teams go to all localities, where locals have let out their houses to non-Kashmiris. We collect personal details and photographs of these people and verify them. Most of the registered workers are from Bihar and UP.’’Ahmad said the process would help police verify details of all outsiders in the Valley. ‘‘We can easily identify people with adverse records from their respective police stations,’’ he said. ‘‘Apart from outsiders, we are also registering people from other townships staying in the city.’’In some police stations, people from rural areas who stay in Srinagar are also being registered. ‘‘My police station has registered more than 2,000 people,’’ says Feroz Qadri, SHO, Sadar. Rajiv Kumar of Bhawalpur in Bihar sells popcorn outside Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. Kumar says that a few days back, a police team collected his personal details and took his photograph. ‘‘They (policemen) also photographed me along with my cart,’’ he says. The outsiders are scared, as they don’t know why police are checking their antecedents and asking them to register. ‘‘I have been here for long but it is for the first time that we have been asked to register,’’ says Ishaq Subhan of Muradabad. Subhan works at a local sweetmeat shop. ‘‘I have also filled a form giving personal details,’’ he says.
