J&K Police probe into ‘IS killing of cop’, refute outfit’s presence in the state

Second instance of the global terror outfit owning up to an attack in Kashmir, DGP says there is ‘no proof’

SRINAGAR:THE Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday said that although there is no evidence of the presence of the terror outfit Islamic State (IS) in Kashmir, its claim that it killed a policeman in Srinagar on Sunday has to be investigated.

“The claim (of the killing of the policeman) is on their (Islamic State’s) website. There is no perceivable presence of the Islamic State on the ground in Kashmir but it (the claim) needs to be investigated further,” director general of state police SP Vaid said over phone.

“It could be possible that an individual militant, influenced by the Islamic State, carried out the attack. We are investigating it. But there is no evidence to suggest any presence of the outfit in the Valley,” Vaid added.

Reportedly, the IS has said through its news platform, Amaq News Agency, that it has successfully carried out the killing of Farooq Ahmed Yatoo in Soura locality on Sunday night. Yatoo, a native of Chadoora area of Budgam district, was posted as a guard at the residence of separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi.

The Centre, too, sought to downplay the issue of Islamic State’s presence in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it has no existence in the Valley.

“There is no physical infrastructure or manpower of the IS in the Valley. It does not exist in the Valley,” a home ministry spokesperson said in New Delhi.

This is the second time in the last three months that the IS has claimed, through its official mouthpiece, of having carried out an attack in Kashmir. The outfit had claimed an attack in Zakura on the outskirts of Srinagar in November last year. A policeman and a militant were killed in the attack.

The DGP has said in the past, too, that the IS has “no footprint in Kashmir” as has the Union home ministry.

After the IS’S claim in November, Rajya Sabha was told in January that “nothing has been established on ground that the ISIS is operating in any part of Kashmir valley”.

Minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir, in his reply, however, had mentioned militant commander Zakir Musa’s organisation, Ansar Gazwat-ul-hind (AGUH), which said to be a branch of the Al-qaeda in Kashmir and formed in July last year.

“(It) has posted adverse materials on social media. There are reports that at present, Zakir Musa has support of less than 10 militants,” Ahir had said.

Even Kashmir’s separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, had said last year that the “ongoing freedom struggle” in the state is “indigenous” and has “nothing to do with” global terrorist groups such as the IS or Al-qaeda.