RSS seeks stringent action against Kashmir blast culprits

The RSS Thursday demanded stringent action against those behind the terror attack in Kashmir, which killed at least 39 CRPF personnel, and said it reflected their desperation due to the government's clampdown on terrorism.

The Hindutva organisation's general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi strongly condemned the attack and said the RSS, an ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, is with the government and the security forces in this hour of crisis.

In tweets, he also paid homage to the deceased CRPF personnel and expressed condolences to their family members.

"The attack is clearly a sign of desperation and frustration due to the clampdown on terrorism. The government should take stringent action against culprits at the earliest," Joshi said.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a RSS affiliate, blamed Pakistan, with its joint general secretary Surendra Jain seeking action against it.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 39 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials said.