Mehbooba briefs Rajnath on Valley situation

NEW DELHI: Amidst the recent spurt in violence in Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday met home minister Rajnath Singh and discussed with him the security situation in the state and how to bring back normalcy, officials said.

During the 20-minute meet, the two leaders discussed the initiatives taken by the Centre’s representative Dineshwar Sharma in holding talks with a wide cross section of society.

Mehbooba briefed Singh on the prevailing law and order situation and the steps taken to restore peace in the Valley. The situation along the border with Pakistan, which often witnesses attempts of infiltrations by militants and cross border firings, also came up for discussion, the home ministry official said.

The meeting came in the wake of growing demands for a CBI probe into the Kathua rape and murder case and incidents of militant violence and encounters with security forces. They also discussed how to ameliorate the misery of the civilian population, who often face firing from across the border, and the implementation of the Prime Minister’s development package, another official said.

As many as 60 incidents of terrorist violence have taken place in J&K from January till mid-March this year, killing 15 security personnel and 17 terrorists, according to data provided to Parliament.