All 10 cops guarding Valley BJP leader held, face dismissal
SRINAGAR:The killing of Bandipore Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Waseem Bari and his father and brother was handiwork of two terrorists owing allegiance to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the police said on Thursday.
All 10 policemen guarding Bari, a 28-year-old former BJP district president, have been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty and arrested, said Kashmir inspector general of police Vijay Kumar.
The personal security officers (PSOs) of Bari were not with him when the attack took place barely 10 metres away from a police station around 9pm, and face dismissal from service over the lapse, he said.
Kumar also said the examination of footage from CCTV cameras in the police station confirmed that Bari was being followed. Both terrorists involved in the attack have been identified and they will be “neutralised soon”, he told reporters in Bandipore. On Wednesday evening, Bari came back from his in-laws’ house and went to his shop, where his father, Bashir Ahmad, and brother, Umar Bashir, were
› The BJP leader was killed by two terrorists owing allegiance to Lashkar-e-Taiba
VIJAY KUMAR, Kashmir IG
already present, according to Kumar. His PSOs went to their rooms, he said. “A militant came walking inside the shop and targeted the three from a close range,” Kumar said.
“Even if two of his [10] PSO’s remained with him, they would have killed the militant.,” he said. Kumar stressed that the police are committed to providing protection to everyone who was under threat.
Days after scientists sent a letter of ‘emerging evidence’ of Covid-19 being air borne to the WHO, officials have acknowledged that smaller exhaled particles can linger in air. Although evidence was found of Covid-19 being airborne, the proof was not definitive. So, while we wait for an official statement from the WHO, we must wear a mask at all times while stepping out of the house and follow social-distancing norms. We must fight and overcome the pandemic together.
Aashna Minocha, Gurgaon