CM Kumaraswamy condemns Pulwama attack, consoles family of CRPF jawan killed
Bengaluru, Feb 15: Terming the terror attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama district "heinous", Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Friday consoled the family of brave heart from Mandya, H Guru, who was killed in the incident.
The chief minister instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation and directed them to verify the educational qualifications of Guru's wife so that she can be provided a job by the government.
"I spoke to martyred #CRPF soldier H Guru's family over the phone and consoled them. Their grief is heart wrenching. We are with them. I have instructed officials to speed up the process of compensation. #Pulwama," Kumaraswamy tweeted.
Describing the massacre in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama as "heinous act of mindless cowardice", the chief minister said he was deeply disturbed and pained at the loss of lives of the brave CRPF personnel.
"The government should act immediately and take steps to end the menace of terrorism from our soil forever," he said in another tweet.
Guru (33), who hailed from Gudigere village near K M Doddi in Mandya district, was attached with the 82 Battalion posted in Kashmir.
He was initially posted in Jharkhand after joining the paramilitary force in 2011.
The brave-heart married about six months ago and had constructed a new house at his native about a year back.
He was at his home till last week on a vacation.
"I should have spoken to him over phone... he had called me in the morning, but I couldn't speak to him. I'm really feeling devastated. It has not even been four days since he had gone from here," an inconsolable Kalavathi, Guru's wife, told reporters in Mandya.
"We were speaking daily... I couldn't speak to him today (Thursday)... I tried contacting him, but couldn't reach him... he had called me in the morning (Thursday), but I had some work, so couldn't speak to him," Kalavathi said as she broke down.
Guru is survived by his wife, his aged parents, two brothers and other family members.
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
