Bank robberies in Kashmir: Lashkar and Hizbul terrorists behind heists, says police

Lashkar and Hizbul terrorists were behind recent bank robberies in Jammu and Kashmir, Inspector General of Police SJM Gillani revealed at a press meet on Monday.

Investigation revealed terrorists of Laskar-e-Taiba&Hizbul Mujahideen involved in recent cases of bank loot in south Kashmir: IGP Kashmir pic.twitter.com/JomQT1aern

— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2017

Five policemen and two bank guards were killed on 1 May as militants engaged with the forces at Kulgam who were travelling in the van after depositing cash at one of the branches of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.

On 6 May, in the wake of militants targeting banks in south Kashmir, cash transactions at nearly 40 branches in sensitive areas of Pulwama and Shopian districts in South Kashmir were stopped.

The step has been taken following an advisory issued by security agencies asking the banks operating in the two districts to stop cash deliveries at the branches located in these areas as they apprehend more such attacks.

The cash transactions were stopped at the branches belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Ellaquai Dehati Bank, which were targeted by militants recently.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service across the Line of Control (LoC) was suspended in view of a cordon and search operation in a village near the Kaman Post in Jammu and Kashmir.

The bus, which started its journey from Srinagar at 7 am with 14 passengers on board, was stopped by the army at Bandi in Uri tehsil of Baramulla district, a police official said.

He added that 25 persons were waiting to board the bus at the Salamabad Facilitation Centre to go to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Gillani added that as many as 95 Kashmiri youth have joined militancy in the last year, raising the total strength of the militants active in the Valley to 200, of which 110 are locals.

Gillani also said that they will assess the effects of blocking social media sites and then take a decision on whether they need to resume them or not after a month.

“After the one-month period (is over), the ban on social media will be reviewed,” he said. The state government imposed a ban on 22 websites and social media applications last month as it believed that these platforms were being misused by inimical elements to stoke trouble in Kashmir.

With inputs from PTI