Srinagar: Until last night, Bilal Ahmad Thoker of Pulwama’s Muran in Jammu and Kashmir was excited and reading the arrangements of his marriage, scheduled to be almost a week away.
But his dreams were shattered when Thoker’s house sustained damage after security forces demolished the residential house of his neighbouring family, whose son is a terrorist.
Five residential houses of the families of active terrorists hailing from different areas in south Kashmir were razed to the ground yesterday following the Pahalgam terror attack.
The demolitions carried out since yesterday mark one of the most aggressive responses by security forces amid heightened operations to hunt down terrorists.
In Pulwama's Murran area, the double-storey house of Ehsan Ul Haq Sheikh was levelled by explosives late Friday night. Sheikh, trained in Pakistan in 2018, is believed to be directly involved in the Pahalgam attack and has been under the radar of security agencies for several years, officials said.
But Thoker, whose house has suffered substantial damages, said he had no relation with the terrorist.
“Last night, we were evicted by security forces from our house. We were busy preparing arrangements for my marriage. I had bought clothes and other necessary accessories. But the blast has damaged all those items,” he said while showing the damaged items.
Five residential houses of terrorists, including the two terrorists who are believed to have been part of the team that killed tourists in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow on April 22, have been razed to the ground.
The carnage resulted in the killing of 26 tourists, including a local pony who resisted the attack and attempted to save the tourists.
The J&K Police has released sketches of the three terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba and announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh each for leading to their whereabouts.
But Thoker is helpless seeking an answer, “I want to ask what is our fault? Our house has suffered severe damage and we have lost everything,” he said.
Read more:
