By Sheikh Qayoom

Srinagar, Aug 14 (IANS): The broad daylight killing of two local policemen by terrorists on Friday has forced authorities to heighten security across the Kashmir Valley.

The terror attack took place on the eve of Independence Day despite intelligence inputs about such a possibility.

The two victims were part of a deployment party on the Srinagar-Baramulla national highway in Nowgam area of Srinagar district. Another policeman was also injured in this hit and run terror strike.

Vijay Kumar, IGP (Kashmir) rushed to the spot immediately following the incident.

He told reporters that the terrorists who carried out the attack belonged to the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit.

"We have identified them. They belong to the Jaish outfit. The police party did not retaliate to avoid civilian casualties.

"We had intelligence inputs about such an attack and we have put all security personnel on high alert. The militants always try such things around August 15.

"The death of two of our jawans is unfortunate," said the IGP.

He however, refused to accept that the attack had taken place because of a security lapse.

Given their past experience, the security forces have already sounded a red alert across Kashmir and random checking of vehicles entering Srinagar city has been going on besides electronic surveillance by CCTV cameras and drones for the last three days.

Sniffer dogs have also been deployed around all sensitive security installations in Srinagar city where the main Independence Day parade is scheduled to be held on Saturday.

All high-rise structures around the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket stadium in Sonawar area, the main parade venue in Srinagar, have been taken over by sharp shooters of different security force agencies, while manual checking of the ID cards of commuters and their belongings, is being carried out by the local police.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will unfurl the national flag and take the salute at the main Independence Day parade here.

Makeshift drop gates manned by armed guards have come up in a number of places in the sensitive areas.

After the news about Friday's terror attack, people started rushing to their homes early.

The markets here are already sparsely thronged by shoppers because of the ongoing pandemic.

There was also minimal private and public transport movement on the city roads.

Holding incident free Independence Day celebrations across Jammu and Kashmir is the major challenge the security forces face today.

Authorities have issued an order making the presence of civil servants above the rank of an under secretary compulsory at the official Independence Day functions in the union territory.