The transfer of 27 police officers comes on the heels of spike in terror and selective killings of cops in the valley. The J&K government ordered a major reshuffle in J&K Police, which includes transfer of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar Sandeep Choudhary. As per the order, Rakesh Balwal, IPS, awaiting orders of posting, has been appointed as the new SSP Srinagar.
Who is Rakesh Balwal?
Rakesh Balwal, IPS, was part of the NIA team that presented the 13,800 page chargesheet to the court on the Pulwama terror attack and everything in between, which led to multiple arrests. Balwal, 2012 batch IPS officer of Manipur cadre, was appointed as Superintendent of Police to NIA in 2018 for a period of 4 years.
One of the biggest breakthroughs in the Pulwama attack investigation was when the probe team involving Balwal, found a picture of Kashmiri youth in Mohammed Umar Farooq's phone. The youth was identified as Shakir Bashir Magray. Balwal was heavily invested in the Pulwama terror case, and made sure to see the complete investigation through.
It was after filing the chargesheet at the court, Balwal's emotional post on Twitter sad it all. "To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late, And how can man die better, Than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his gods!!!!" Balwal had tweeted.
With Sandeep Choudhary's exit, Balwal takes charge as Srinagar SSP. The celebrated former NIA SP famed for cracking the Pulwama case will bring a fresh perspective to counter the terrorism in the Valley. This is seen as a welcome move by many as Balwal brings his expertise from NIA, which is
How was tenure of SSP Sandeep Chaudhary?
The outgoing SSP Sandeep Chaudhary witnessed many good encounters in J&K, eliminating some high-level targets. But there was also a spike in targeted killings, of not just police officers, but also civilians, mainly Kashmiri Pandits. Five cops of Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed in two back-to-back terror attacks in Kashmir Valley in the last few days.
Two foreign and a local terrorist were involved in the attack on a police bus in the outskirts of Srinagar at Zewan that left three policemen dead and 11 others injured. IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said 25 policemen were in the bus at the time of the attack which was carried by a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit.
Taking corrective course to curb the menace of targeted killings, the alert police force successfully carried out various encounters. On Wednesday, dreaded Category A+ terrorist of Hizbul outfit, involved in a series of killings including an attack on security picket of a migrant camp, was killed in Pulwama. Despite adequate opportunity to surrender, the terrorist resorted to firing, which forced retaliation by the security forces. The killed terrorist has been identified as Feroz Ahmad Dar a resident of Shopian. Dar had joined terror ranks in 2017 and was involved in many militancy-related incidents.
Just a day prior to that, a gun battle erupted between terrorists and security forces on Tuesday morning in Jammu and Kashmir's border district of Poonch. One unidentified terrorist was killed in the encounter held at Behramgala area of Poonch. One AK-47 rifle and other ammunition were also recovered from the spot.
