MHA orders inquiry into J-K IED blast

‘‘Though a thorough inquiry would take some time, it appears that the CRPF which conducted the ROP on Sunday had given a clearance for the traffic to move. It seems that they completely missed this remote-controlled IED. Several such IEDs have been detected by ROPs on earlier occasions and defused,’’ disclosed a senior official. B.B. Mishra, Special Secretary for Kashmir, Ajai Raj Sharma, DG, BSF and Rakesh Hooja, Joint Secretary (Kashmir), had rushed to the state on Sunday to ascertain the facts on ground.

Ministry sources said the attack revealed a major security breach as the 300 km Jammu-Srinagar highway is under high security cover. Before the highway is opened for traffic each morning, the entire stretch is scanned with deep search metal detectors and sniffer dogs for explosives. The road is opened only after this clearance is given.

Meanwhile the needle of suspicion for the killing of the BSF jawans points to the Hizbul Mujahideen. The militant group, taking advantage of the lax security, apparently targetted the BSF bus to avenge the gunning down of its chief commander Ghazi Shahbuddin and so-called Chenab division commander Shakeel Ansari this month.

According to Kashmir watchers in the Home Ministry, security forces had been alerted against retaliation by Hizbul after Shahbuddin was killed on May 5. The threat perception increased after Shakeel Ansari was also gunned down. It is learnt that hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani attended Ansari’s funeral in Hizbul’s Anantnag stronghold.

Earlier this January, HM’s second-in-command Malik Abbas Ansari was killed, a day after another chief commander Ghulam Rasool Dar was shot dead by security forces. Dar was succeeded by Ghazi Shahbuddin. ‘‘The BSF killing is Syed Salahuddin’s way to assert that HM’s militant cadre still has the capability of striking at security forces,’’ said an official.

The HM had already claimed responsibility for the attack. It seems that J-K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s plans to include all separatist groups, including the HM, in peace talks may also suffer a setback with the attack.