Political rhetoric has also intensified in the valley on this action. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticized the demolition of houses and large-scale arrests, calling it counterproductive.
Following the brutal killing of on-duty Jammu and Kashmir Police Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi in the busy Lal Chowk market of Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, security forces have launched a massive operation across the Kashmir Valley. As part of this action, security forces blew up the ancestral houses of two wanted terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba. More than 2,500 suspects from across the valley have been detained for questioning.
According to officials, around 3 am on Thursday, teams of security forces evacuated the houses of terrorists Adil Ahmed Thokar in Guri village of Anantnag district and Haroon Rashid Ganai in Hasanpora Tawela in Bijbihara and demolished them using controlled explosives. Both Thokar and Ganai have been associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba since 2018. Adil Thokar’s house has been blown up for the second time. Earlier, after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025, similar action was taken at his house.
More than 2500 detained
The police have intensified the operation against the facilitators of terrorists to destroy the network involved in the murder of the head constable. According to police officials, the detained people are suspected of providing logistics, shelter, cash, transport and communication facilities to the terrorists. A senior police officer said that the main objective of this operation is to identify and completely destroy the ground networks providing logistics and financial support to terrorist organizations.
Manoj Sinha conducted security review
Following this development, Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level security review meeting on Thursday. He directed the security forces and officials to remain on utmost alert and immediately neutralize the emerging threats. Along with this, the Lieutenant Governor also reviewed the arrangements for Amarnath Yatra which was postponed from July 19 due to heavy rains. More than 3,91,000 devotees have visited the holy cave temple in Anantnag district in the first 20 days of this year’s annual pilgrimage.
Omar Abdullah raised questions on the action
Political rhetoric has also intensified in the valley on this action of security forces. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticized the demolition of houses and large-scale arrests, calling it counterproductive. He said, “People are angry over the brutal murder of a police head constable. But when the number of arrests increases from hundreds to 2,000 or 2,500, there is a danger of that public anger turning against us. Demolishing houses or arresting thousands of people will not improve the situation.”
People’s Conference President Sajad Lone and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti have termed these mass arrests as collective punishment. Meanwhile, a massive search operation is going on to find the killer of 45-year-old martyr head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, resident of Lalpora village of Budgam.
