Tehreek-i-Taliban posters appear in J&K

According to reports, posters have appeared in Sopore Town of North Kashmir, where militants recently killed two men working with mobile phone service providers reads warning of attacks on petrol pumps, cable operators and alcohol-sellers.

On May 25, militants had attacked BSNL showroom in Sopore town and killed one employee of BSNL while two others seriously injured.

A mobile tower owner was killed by unidentified gunmen in north Kashmir on May 27.

The militants had issued several warning to the owners of the franchise offices of various telecommunication companies, including BSNL, asking them to shut down their business in and around Sopore.

The posters, bearing initials of the Tehreek-i-Taliban’s Kashmir wing, warned petrol pump owners of dire consequences if they allow military and police vehicles to refuel at their establishments.

The posters, warned petrol pump owners of dire consequences if they refuel vehicles belonging to police and other armed forces.

People who indulge in gambling or households where gambling takes places have also been threatened of attacks in these posters.

“Change yourselves for better and stop these immoral activities within seven days,” the posters have warned.

Baramulla district, where mobile phone services were suspended after the killing of two telecom workers in May.

Outlets of cell phone companies in Sopore town have remained closed since May 1, the day when masked men threatened at gunpoint Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone shops to stop operations.

The threat was made "after equipment purportedly installed by terrorists on Badami Bagh in Sopore of North Kashmir cell phone tower was removed". Jammu and Kashmir Police blamed terror outfit Hizbul Mujhahideen was behind the recent string of attacks on mobile service providers in the Kashmir valley.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)