After SHO Feroz Ahmed Dar's brutal killing, Mehbooba Mufti govt provides bulletproof vehicles to J&K cops

Jammu: Nearly a week after a Police Inspector and five policemen were killed in an ambush by militants, the Jammu and Kashmir government led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has now provided bulletproof vehicles to police officers for patrolling in sensitive areas.

According to Hindustan Times, the state government has provided bullet-proof vehicles to at least 20 SHOs posted in sensitive areas. 

The Mehbooba Mufti government had faced injtense criticism for politicising the killing of six policemen, including SHO Feroz Ahmed, by militants at Thujwara in Achabal area of south Kashmir last week.

“Owing to the level of threat that exists to local police officers, it was imperative that they travel their areas in these vehicles,” a senior J&K police officer was quoted as saying.

He also informed that the vehicles will be given to officers posted in south Kashmir and other disturbed areas of the Valley.

According to reports, 29 policemen have been killed in the last one and a half years in militant attacks in Kashmir.

Following the attack, senior police officials decided to transfer bulletproof vehicles given to them by the government to the SHOs for the time being, the officer said.

A decision in this regard was taken in light of a request made by the slain officer, Feroz Ahmed Dar, a native of the region, for a bulletproof vehicle several times before his death due to threat posed by the militants.

SP Vaid, Director General of Police, without specifying, said a lot of bulletproof vehicles were destroyed during the 2014 floods and during the agitation that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani.

“J&K police is sufficiently equipped to deal in the current situation, but a lot of our vehicles were destroyed during the flood and in the 2016 agitation, but we are trying our best to safeguard our officers, and at the same time, fight militancy,” Vaid said.