Anantnag attack: Militant houses razed, mass detentions draw 'collective punishment' charge

Srinagar: Security forces demolished the houses of two active militants in southern Kashmir on Wednesday night, hours after a J&K Police head constable was killed in a suspected militant attack in Anantnag district.

The houses of Adil Thokar and Haroon Rashid Ganaie, both residents of Anantnag, associated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, were demolished by the joint teams of the army, J&K Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), officials said. The authorities also detained and questioned around 2,500 people across Kashmir Valley in connection with the attack.

Also read: Cop killed in terrorist attack in J-K's Anantnag


J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, former CM Mehbooba Mufti and other political leaders condemned the mass detentions and the demolitions, terming them a "collective punishment" that would not "improve security situation on the ground".

The action came after head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, who was on Amarnath Yatra security duty, was shot dead by a lone attacker in Lal Chowk area of Anantnag on Wednesday afternoon. The ongoing 57-day yatra, which started on July 3, has been temporarily suspended due to adverse weather conditions prevailing across J&K.

Also read: India slams Pak at UN over cross-border terrorism, says Kashmir integral part of India

"I understand the anger of the police, but the Supreme Court has issued an order stating that summarily action of this kind should not be taken. We witnessed a similar situation after the Pahalgam attack (in April 2025) when some people's houses were bulldozed. At that time, I had to speak to the central government to stop the trend," Abdullah told media persons on the sidelines of a function in Srinagar.

While condemning Qureshi's killing, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said demolishing houses of "alleged" terrorists was a "collective punishment" that had no place in a democracy.

"The killing of a police officer in the line of duty is a heinous and condemnable act. But detaining over a thousand people and demolishing the homes of families of two alleged militants amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy," Mufti wrote on X.