Terrorism has been dragging on for decades now. When countered by Indian security agencies, old methods have been replaced by new ones. From fidayeen attacks to target killings, from suicide bombers to IED blasts, and from IED blasts to sticky bombs, the latest addition is the “perfume IED,” a chemical even unknown to the police. This is a serious development with unimaginable consequences. Jammu and Kashmir Police team which cracked the blind blast case in eleven days deserves all accolades. Along with this Narwal blast case, the police claim to have also cracked the Shastri Nagar and Katra blast cases, which were earlier claimed to be ordinary blasts. More damaging is the fact that the arrested terrorist is a working government teacher and Lashkar-e-Toiba’s active terrorist, who has been doing serial blasts and keeping the CID and local police clueless until now. Arif is not the only one involved from Reasi; one friend is also involved, and that friend’s uncle is also an active LET terrorist and is right now in Pakistan. No vigilance had been kept on them; all three involved have been indulging in terrorist activities without any hindrance. Reasi has, of late, also become a hotbed of terrorist activities, a transit route, and an ideal place for dormant terrorist cells to remain hidden. Last July, in a daring act, the villagers of Tuksan village in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir captured and handed over two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to the police, who had come to the village as imposters seeking shelter. Despite these recent past activities, proactive countermeasures like basic police verification are missing. Who are the local OGW and UGW in Jammu and Katra who helped this Reasi module operate in Jammu? All these serial incidents have very serious consequences, and a feckless approach will not work. Our intelligence and police are unaware of furtive sleeper modules. A proper investigation has to be conducted into how a terrorist got recruited under RET, then regularised in a government job, and how he managed mandatory CID verification. Despite being on the verge of collapse, Pakistan has been consistently involved in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, this time with a unique perfume IED. It is clear that terrorism is here only and instead of focusing on Kashmir only, now, the focus areas are Reasi and other parts of the Jammu Division. Local police and CID must devise countermeasures to checkmate the nefarious designs of Pakistan-backed terrorists. Even a small incident in the peaceful Jammu Division is good enough to shatter the confidence of the public. Even this perfume IED has been smuggled from across the border via drones-another serious matter that has to be taken care of.
There are still many untangled wires in the story: where was the shipment of perfume IED dropped from drones, who collected it, who are the OGWs and UGWs in that particular area, and how has this chemical reached Reasi? Are there other sleeper cells also in possession of this IED chemical? All these unanswered questions are quite niggling in the sense that even though the Narwal blast case has been worked out, the danger is still there. The police have to be extra vigilant, and the public must also keep an eye on the things around them. Every responsible citizen should inform the police, and the police, on their part, should start immediate police verification of tenants and non-locals. A working government employee turning out to be an active LET terrorist is not an odd case. The Administration has been trying to isolate these anti-national elements and weed them out of the system, but even for this, the police have to play an active role. Our police are on the job; they have apprehended the perpetrators in only eleven days and will tackle these new dimensions of terrorism.
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