J&K police chief warns militants to leave policemen`s families alone

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police S.P. Vaid on Wednesday warned militants to leave families of policemen out of conflict.

"This is between police and militants and families should not be brought into this conflict," he told TV channel NDTV in a response to the ransacking of a senior police officer's house by militants in Shopian district last week and threats to his family members. 

He wondered what would be the reaction of militants if police started threatening and intimidating their families.

"If the police start doing this, what will happen to their families?" he asked.

A group of heavily-armed militants had entered the house of the police officer in Shopian and after ransacking it, warned the family members of serious consequences if the officer did not quit his job.

Militant groups have been issuing threats to policemen in Kashmir not to associate with anti-militancy operations in the past, but the Shopian incident is the first of its kind.

Sources said the militants had justified ransacking by telling the officer`s family that the security forces also did the same to those families who gave shelter to militants in the state.