J&K launches massive anti-terror sweep after policeman’s killing
After detaining over 2,000 overground workers in a valley-wide crackdown against the terrorist ecosystem within hours after the merciless killing of a police Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, the authorities went ahead and demolished the houses of two local Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in the South Kashmir district of Anantnag during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
The punitive action was taken to crush the backbone of the perpetrators of terrorist violence in the valley.
#WATCH | Anantnag, J&K: Residential houses of active militants Haroon Ganie and Adil Thokar are demolished overnight in Hasanpora and Bijbehara areas of south Kashmir after militants killed a J&K Police personnel in Anantnag on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/wdCt79HBx2
— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2026
The OGWs were picked up across the Valley in connection with the ongoing investigations in the targeted killing of a police head constable from point blank range.
According to a police spokesman, around 700 suspected OGWs were detained in Srinagar, over 200 in Budgam, 178 in Baramulla, and over 100 in Ganderbal, besides several others from the four South Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, and Pulwama.
According to a police spokesman, the coordinated operations were carried out based on credible intelligence and as part of an ongoing investigation into the Anantnag terror attack.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar on Thursday with senior officials from the Army, J&K Police, Civil Administration, central paramilitary forces, and key security agencies. Sinha directed officials to remain highly vigilant, step up intelligence-led anti-terror operations and proactively neutralise emerging security threats.
The meeting was attended by Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command; Atal Dulloo, Chief Secretary; Nalin Prabhat, DGP; S.J.M.Gillani, Special DG Coordination PHQ; Lt Gen Balbir Singh, GOC 15 Corps; Lt Gen P K Mishra, GOC 16 Corps; Chanderkar Bharti, Principal Secretary, Home; Shri Pankaj Thakur, Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau; Dr Mandeep K. Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor and CEO SASB; Nitish Kumar, ADGP, CID; Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, IGPs, senior officials of Civil Administration, Police, Army, Security forces, Intelligence Agencies and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board.
According to official sources, the houses of local terrorists Adil Ahmad Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie were razed to the ground in the Hasanpora and Bijbehara areas of south Kashmir.
Similar demolitions were carried out after the horrific Pahalgam attack in April 2025. According to police, homes of at least one dozen terrorists were blown up in different parts of the Valley. In November last year, a multi-storey house, belonging to Dr Umar Un Nabi, one of the masterminds of the Red Fort car blast on November 10, 2025, was demolished using explosives in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Omar warns against retribution
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday sounded a word of caution, claiming that immediately after the Pahalgam terror attack took place, the police had blown up homes of suspected terrorists. However, the investigation showed that those involved in the attack were from outside J&K.
He cautioned against wanton retributive action in the wake of a terror attack in Anantnag that killed a policeman on Wednesday, saying violence cannot be brought to an end without carrying the people along.
“I understand the anger of the police, but the Supreme Court has issued an order stating that summary action of this kind should not be taken.
“We witnessed a similar situation after the Pahalgam attack (in April 2025) when some people’s houses were bulldozed. At that time, I had to speak to the Central government to stop the trend,” Abdullah told reporters.
He also spoke out against the detention of hundreds of individuals in the Valley, stating that this “will not help improve the situation in J&K but in turn strain it further.”
Former J&K chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that demolishing houses of “alleged” terrorists was “collective punishment” that has no place in a democracy.
“The killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a heinous and condemnable act. But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.
If the Centre maintains that militancy has been reduced to near zero, it must adopt a more humane and lawful approach towards innocent civilians instead of resorting to “tit for tat” for an entire community, the former J-K chief minister said.
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