Srinagar: Days ahead of Independence Day, security has been beefed up across Kashmir valley, with Jammu and Kashmir police intensifying frisking and checking of commuters. The police have strengthened checkpoints and night patrols, and surveillance at vulnerable locations and key entry and exit points.The heightened security arrangement in the valley comes ahead of the August 15 celebrations, with the main function scheduled at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. Alongside the broader security measures, minority employees working in the Valley have also been asked to work from home until Independence Day following online threats naming Kashmiri Pandit government employees.However, there is no publicly available formal government order announcing the work-from-home arrangement. Employees said the instructions have been communicated through departmental and internal channels.In Srinagar, police and security personnel have stepped up checking and frisking commuters at various locations. Additional checkpoints have been established as security agencies prepare for Independence Day events and seek to prevent any disruption.Also, a security review was chaired by Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, V.K. Birdi at the Police Control Room in Kashmir on Monday.The meeting was attended by senior officers from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Railway Protection Force, Central Investigation Department, intelligence agencies, traffic police and the army, besides district police chiefs and other security officials.The district senior superintendents of police (SSPs) briefed the IGP on preparations in their respective districts for Independence Day celebrations and other scheduled events, Kashmir Life reported.Birdi directed officers to complete security preparations well in advance and assigned responsibilities for various events, including rallies.He specifically reviewed arrangements for the main function at Bakshi Stadium and directed officers to further strengthen security around the venue.The IGP also ordered officers to strengthen checkpoints, particularly during night hours, at vulnerable locations and along the entry and exit routes of Srinagar.Area domination and patrolling were to be intensified in sensitive and vulnerable areas, with officers asked to maintain heightened vigilance and surveillance.The review concluded with a call for greater inter-agency coordination and strict implementation of security protocols across the Valley.WFH amid online threatsThe security measures have coincided with online threats targeting Kashmiri Pandit employees working in the Valley.Threat posters circulated online reportedly carried the names and phone numbers of Kashmiri Pandit government employees. Security agencies have attributed the posters to the United Liberation Council, described by officials as a shadow outfit of Lashkar-e-Taiba.The threats have prompted authorities to increase security around migrant employees and their residential colonies.Around 6,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees are working in Kashmir under the prime minister’s employment package. They are posted across government departments and many live in designated colonies under security cover.Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, said Kashmiri Pandit employees had been asked not to leave their colonies or report to their offices until August 15.“Following the killing of two non-local workers in Kulgam, there is an unofficial order from the authorities instructing migrant employees to stay indoors. They have been asked not to go to work until Independence Day,” Tickoo told The Wire. The move follows two attacks in south Kashmir last month.“These arrangements are not permanent and cannot provide a long-term solution. Keeping employees indoors or asking them not to report to work may address the immediate security concern, but it cannot continue indefinitely. The authorities need to find a sustainable solution that ensures the safety of employees while allowing them to carry on with their normal duties,” Tickoo said.On June 22, policeman Ashiq Hussain Qureshi was killed in a busy marketplace in Anantnag while deployed for Amarnath Yatra duty. Ten days later, two migrant workers from Chhattisgarh, Deepak Ratray and Bopinder, were killed in Kulgam, where they worked at a brick kiln. No formal order for flag photographs The security measures are unfolding alongside the administration’s Har Ghar Tiranga–Vande Mataram campaign, which has gathered pace across Jammu and Kashmir. District administration and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadre in the valley have organised Tiranga rallies, mass recitations of Vande Mataram and the National Anthem, quizzes, marathons, sporting events, cultural programmes, cleanliness drives and public-outreach activities. Teachers and other government employees have also been asked in some departments to share photographs of themselves with the national flag in internal WhatsApp groups. There is, however, no publicly available official order mandating government employees to share such photographs. The instruction appears to have been communicated through internal departmental channels and WhatsApp groups. “When the CEO and ZEO share pictures in the group with the Indian flag, it becomes an unofficial order for other teachers to follow. Though there was no instruction from the officers to share pictures in the WhatsApp group, seeing high-ranking officials share their pictures makes it evident that everyone is expected to share their picture with the flag in the group. You are even expected to put similar pictures on your WhatsApp status,” a government teacher from Kulgam district, who wished not to be named, told The Wire. The campaign is aimed at involving students, youth, women and grassroots communities, with several programmes also marking 150 years of Vande Mataram.Police intensify operationsThe heightened security environment has also been accompanied by intensified police operations against individuals and organisations accused of radical, separatist or militant activities. The Police’s Counter-Intelligence Kashmir unit has arrested two men, Mehran Qazi of Dooru in Anantnag and Babar Hamid Dar of Sopore, for allegedly circulating radical and anti-national content online.In north Kashmir’s Sopore, police on Sunday conducted simultaneous searches at 26 locations as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities and network of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, the Tribune reported.The searches were carried out in Sopore town and villages including Bomai, Tarzoo, Shutloo, Rohama, Goripora and Behrampora, with the CRPF assisting the operation. The police said the searches were part of an investigation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. No fresh arrests were reported.According to police, premises linked to Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, members and activists were searched and documents, literature and electronic devices were seized. The material is being examined for possible links to the organisation’s activities. Jamaat-e-Islami was declared an unlawful association by the Union home ministry in 2019 under the UAPA, with the government citing alleged separatist and militant links. Property worth Rs 69.82 lakh attachedIn a separate development, the police obtained an order from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court to attach property worth Rs 69.82 lakh belonging to an accused in a 2008 militancy-linked case in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The police said the action relates to FIR No. 02/2008 registered at Chandoosa police station under Sections 2/3 of the EIMCO Act, Sections 120-B and 121 of the RPC and Section 13 of the UAPA.The property comprises 12 kanal, one marla and 73 square feet of land belonging to Parvaiz Ahmad Famda, son of Yaar Mohammad Famda, of Kawhar Bala in Chandoosa. Police valued the property at Rs 69,82,550. An arrest warrant has also been obtained against another accused in the case, police said.These measures come as authorities prepare for a series of public events across the Valley, with security agencies seeking to ensure that the Independence Day celebrations proceed without disruption.