PM Modi ignored threat, went to Srinagar, say senior intelligence officials

New Delhi: Reflecting his strong resolve to push the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ignored intelligence inputs and requests from senior security officials to cancel his rally on Monday at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar.

Senior intelligence officials had personally briefed Mr Modi, saying the threat perception to his Srinagar rally was “very high”.

Top government sources said that the PM, however, ignored the threats as he was keen that a rally by him in the heart of Srinagar will not only help establish an “emotional connect” with the people of the Valley, but also send out a tough symbolic message to terror operatives across the border.

Mr Modi’s rally came close on the heels of a spate of terror attacks in the Valley on Friday, including the one on the Army camp at Uri.

Sources said security forces faced a daunting task at the stadium with a huge turnout.

“The PM is very clear that Jammu and Kashmir has been neglected for too long and there is an urgent need to bring a qualitative change in the lives of the people there. He wants that the people from the Valley should be brought into the political mainstream and the huge turnout in the Assembly election is a reflection of the faith people are showing in the PM,” a senior government functionary said.

Meanwhile, investigations into the terror attack at the Uri Army camp have revealed that the target of the terrorists was the PM’s rally. Intelligence agencies probing the incident have found some coded messages or matrix from the dead terrorists, which reveal that they had plans to attack the rally as well.

It has also been revealed that the six terrorists killed in Uri had under gone intense commando training.