Govt calls all-party meeting Saturday to brief about Pulwama attack

New Delhi: An all-party meeting will be held on Saturday to brief political parties on the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, officials said.

The meeting has been convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and invitations have been extended to all major political parties.

The parties will be briefed about the attack in Pulwama and the steps being taken by the government so far, a home ministry official.

The decision to convene the all-party meeting was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said the all-party meeting would be convened to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

The CCS was held to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama attack and the possible steps to be taken against the perpetrators of the gruesome act.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay "a very heavy price" and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, he said the "blood of the people is boiling" and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely punished.