Security forces demolished the homes of two alleged militants in south Kashmir on Thursday, a day after a police head constable was killed in a suspected terror attack in Anantnag, The Hindu reported.

The houses of Haroon Rashid Ganai and Adil Ahmad Thokar were demolished in the Hasanpora and Bijbehara areas of Anantnag, the newspaper reported.

Security officials said that both men were active Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, The Hindu reported.

Residents told the newspaper that explosives were used during the demolitions and claimed that a mosque and a vehicle were also damaged.

Head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, who was posted with the Indian Reserve Police and attached with the Special Operations Group, was shot dead on Wednesday while on Amarnath Yatra duty in Anantnag, The Indian Express reported.

Surveillance camera footage showed him being attacked at close range by a lone person suspected to be a terrorist.

The Kashmir Police on Wednesday warned against circulating the purported CCTV footage, saying “dissemination of such material may hamper ongoing investigations, compromise public security”.

Meanwhile, more than 2,500 young persons were detained in the Kashmir Valley after the attack in Anantnag , unidentified police officials told The Indian Express.

This included more than 700 from Srinagar, over 200 from Budgam, 178 from Baramulla and over 100 from Ganderbal. Persons were also detained in the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticised the detentions and demolitions, saying such measures would not help restore peace.

Referring to Supreme Court directions against such demolitions, he said, “This cycle will not end without taking the people along.”

Abdullah said the anger of the police after the policeman’s killing was understandable, but that large-scale arrests and demolitions could further strain the situation.

There are no provisions in Indian law that allow for the demolition of property as a punitive measure. However, the practice has become commonplace in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

In November 2024, the Supreme Court held as illegal the practice of demolishing properties of persons accused of crimes as a punitive measure. It said that processes must be followed before removing allegedly illegal encroachments.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also criticised the action, saying that detaining people and demolishing the homes of families of alleged militants amounted to “collective punishment that has no place in a democracy”.

“If the government of India itself maintains that militancy has been reduced to near zero it must adopt a more humane and lawful approach towards innocent civilians instead of resorting to tit for tat for an entire community,” she added.

*Edited by Neerad Pandharipande. *

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