Covid-19: Pakistan ‘trying to push’ infected persons into Kashmir, says J&K police chief
Last week, top officials of the Indian Army said they received intelligence inputs that Pakistan was sending Covid-19 patients into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh on Thursday said “it is a fact” that Pakistan is “trying to push” people infected with Covid-19 into Jammu and Kashmir in order to spread the deadly virus among the people of the Valley, NDTV reported.
This came a week after top officials of the Indian Army said they have received intelligence inputs that Islamabad was sending Covid-19 patients into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to prepare them to infiltrate Indian territories. The region has reported about 50 Covid-19 cases, out of which, many of the cases are from Mirpur district.
“Certain things have come to the fore,” the police chief said after visiting a quarantine facility in Ganderbal district, which is about 20 kilometer from Srinagar. “So far, Pakistan has been sending terrorists to Kashmir, but it is now exporting coronavirus patients to spread the virus among people of Kashmir. It’s an issue we have to be cautious about and it’s very disturbing.”
Earlier this month, heavy exchange of firing took place in the Keran sector of Kupwara district in which five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed. While three soldiers were killed in during an encounter, two more soldiers of the Indian Army died while foiling an infiltration bid along the Line of Control.
The Army had also killed five militants who attempted to cross over the Line of Control into the Keran sector. The militants were believed to have entered Indian territory from Shamsabari range and were hiding in “Gujjar Dhok” or a temporary shelter for nomads in the Poswal area of the sector.
In the days following the encounter, there had been a heavy exchange of artillery fire between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control. Three civilians were killed and several were injured in shelling by Pakistan in Kupwara district.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has reported 407 coronavirus cases with four deaths as of Thursday. Most of the cases have been reported from Kashmir Valley and three police personnel have also tested positive in the region.
The number of coronavirus patients in India rose to 21,373 on Thursday morning, but the Indian Council of Medical Research said at least 21,797 people have tested positive so far. The toll increased to 681, while the number of patients who have recovered stood at 4,257.