Bukhari, Aurangzeb killings in J&K: Centre under pressure to act against terrorists

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Amid mounting anger and anguish over the brazen killing of ‘The Rising Kashmir’ editor Shujaat Bukhari and Army rifleman Aurangzeb by Pakistan-backed terror groups, there is growing pressure on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre to act against terrorists. With the Congress-led Opposition stepping up its attack over rising terror-related incidents in J&K in the recent months, the NDA regime appears to be cornered at the moment.

If the sources are to be believed, the Centre is also likely to revoke its earlier order for suspension of anti-terror operations during the holy month of Ramzan in the wake of cold-blooded killing of veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari and army rifleman Aurangzeb, who was kidnapped from Shopian and later shot dead by suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) linked terrorists to avenge the recent encounters done by the security forces.

In view of the unpleasant developments in J&K, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Friday to review the security situation in the PDP-ruled state during which the issue of revoking the Ramzan ceasefire was thoroughly discussed. The high-level meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and senior officials of the intelligence and security agencies. The meeting assumed significance amid growing calls for ending the unilateral suspension of anti-terror operations post-Ramzan, which ends on Saturday, the sources said.