‘Terror groups can’t hide, will be punished’: PM Narendra Modi

DHULE/YAVATMAL (Maharashtra): In a strong message to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that terror groups who perpetrated the Pulwama attack, that left 49 CRPF troopers dead, cannot hide and “will be punished” as the security forces have been given a “free hand” to tackle them.

Paying tributes to the Central Reserve Police Force troopers killed in the deadly attack on Thursday, Modi said the country has “complete faith and pride” in our soldiers and security forces and their sacrifices will not go in vain.

“Wherever the terror groups and the perpetrators may hide, our security forces will flush them out and punish them,” Modi said amidst cheers from the gathering of farmers and women.

When and how to accomplish this has been left to the security forces, he said but appealed to the people of the country to be “patient” and repose confidence in the armed forces “as the terror perpetrators shall not be spared at any cost”.

Sharing the outrage of the entire nation, he said: “We are deeply pained by what has happened. Every drop of blood of our slain soldiers shall be avenged.”

Without naming Pakistan, Modi said that now, “the neighbouring country” has become synonymous with terror. “It has sheltered terrorism, but today it is on the verge of bankruptcy.”

He reiterated in both Dhule and Yavatmal that “the sins committed will not be forgiven or left unpunished”, referring to the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed which allegedly operates from safe havens in Pakistan.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 troopers on the spot. The toll reached 49 on Friday as several injured succumbed.

The attack has left the security establishment stunned as it created the biggest casualty of security personnel in a single day in peace time. (IANS)

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