- Union Home Minister Amit Shah begins a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday
- A threat note from Falcon Squad, linked to TRF, warns Kashmiri Pandits against return
- Security officials are assessing the threat's authenticity and possible operational links
As Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to begin a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, a purported threat message attributed to a group calling itself the "Falcon Squad", linked in the note to Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF), surfaced, warning members of the Kashmiri Pandit community against returning to or remaining in the Kashmir Valley.
The message, dated February 3, appeared to circulate on encrypted channels and fringe online platforms often monitored by counter-terror agencies. Security and intelligence officials in Jammu and Kashmir said they have taken "serious note" of the threat and are assessing its authenticity, intent and possible operational links.
Amid ongoing investigations, officials confirmed that the language and symbolism used in the note resemble previous styles associated with TRF.
In an apparent attempt to intimidate "Kashmiri Migrant Pandits" through the recall of past attacks, the note referes to past killings of members of the community and warns them to not become like earlier victims. A senior intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest message appears designed "less as an operational claim and more as psychological warfare intended to revive fear among a vulnerable minority".
Security presence around designated colonies of Kashmiri Pandit Government employees and sensitive pockets in the Valley remains strong.
The threat is the first major message since a wave of targeted killings in 2021 and 2022, when several minority community members, including government employees and civilians, were shot dead in separate incidents across the Valley. The killings had spread fear among migrant employees posted under rehabilitation schemes and prompted security reviews of minority residential clusters.
Among the most widely reported incidents over the past few years were the killing of Ajay Pandita Bharti in Anantnag in 2020, the shooting of municipal leader Rakesh Pandita in Pulwama and prominent chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo in Srinagar in 2021, and the murders of government employee Rahul Bhat in Budgam, teacher Rajni Bala in Kulgam, and farmer Puran Krishan Bhat in Shopian in 2022. In February 2023, Sanjay Sharma, an armed guard belonging to the community, was shot dead in Pulwama.
The development has also revived painful memories within the Kashmiri Pandit community, which witnessed a large-scale exodus in the early beginning 1989-90 following a campaign of targeted killings and threats by armed terrorist groups. Over the past decade, successive governments have claimed to attempt to facilitate limited return and employment-based rehabilitation of some families, though many continue to live in guarded transit accommodations.
Intelligence officials have cautioned against reading the message in isolation, with some analysts within the security establishment believing that such messaging often coincides with attempts by cross-border groups to regain visibility at moments of regional or international scrutiny. They noted that online propaganda and threat notes have historically preceded attempts to create communal unease or provoke forced migration from sensitive areas.
In Jammu, Shah is scheduled to chair a high-level security review meeting to assess the situation in the Union Territory and is also likely to visit border areas along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC). He is also expected to political and social leaders in Jammu.
On Saturday, Shah will travel to Srinagar for another security review meeting and to assess the progress of several developmental projects in the Valley.
Shah's visit at a time several encounters with terrorists were reported from Udhampur and Kishtwar, where at least two Pakistani terrorists were gunned down by Indian Army on Wednesday morning.
