Memorial for Pulwama martyrs to be inaugurated on Friday

A year after a terrorist attack claimed the lives of 40 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a memorial is set to be inaugurated at the Lethpora camp on Friday (February 13), said a top official. Friday will mark the first anniversary of the attack the responsibility for which was claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

“It is a way to pay homage to the brave jawans who lost their lives in the attack,” Additional Director General of CRPF Zulfiquar Hasan said on Thursday after a visit to the site where the memorial has been erected. The names of the 40 personnel along with their pictures will be part of the memorial along with the CRPF’s moto ‘Seva and Nishtha’ (Service and Loyalty).

“It definitely was an unfortunate incident and we have learnt our lessons now. We were always extra alert during our movement but now an extra layer of alertness has been added to it,” Hasan told news agency PTI. The supreme sacrifices of the 40 jawans have furthered increased “our resolve to eliminate enemies of the country”.

“We fight with extra vigour during an encounter with terrorists and that is why we were able to eliminate the entire Jaish-e-Mohammed commanders immediately after the attack on our jawans,” he said.

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While he refused to spell out the precaution taken during troop movements in the aftermath of the February 14 attack, officials in the security establishment said the movement of troops is now done in coordination with other security forces and the army. The home ministry had also allowed the CRPF to carry its troops by air to avoid the possibility of any such attack.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had imposed a ban on plying of private vehicles on two days in a week to facilitate movement of troops. The order was later rescinded after the situation became normal. The process of bullet-proofing of vehicles carrying the troops was expedited and more and more bunker-type vehicles were seen on roads carrying the jawans.

The memorial has been set up inside a CRPF camp adjacent to the place where Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adeel Ahmed Dar, driving an explosive-laden car, blew himself next to a convoy of security forces killing the 40 personnel.

Almost all the conspirators behind the dastardly Pulwama attack have since been killed with the last one being Qari Yasir, the self-styled chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, who was killed last month.

(With inputs from agencies)

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