Srinagar, Sept 29: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai arrived here on Wednesday as a part of Government of India (GoI) outreach programme under which about 50 Union ministers have visited Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh so far.
Official sources said Mr Rai arrived here as a part of outreach programme to visit different parts of the valley besides having interaction with public delegations and individuals and also civil and Army officials.
They said immediately after arriving here, Mr Rai had a meeting with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan.
Sources said Mr Sinha and Mr Rai discussed various issues, including over all security situation and development activities going on in the Union Territory (UT).
They said Mr Rai was later taken in a helicopter to frontier district of Kupwara, where a Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militant, a resident of Punjab, Pakistan, was allowed to surrender by the Army during an encounter near the Line of Control (LoC) on September 26. Another militant, also a Pak resident, was killed in the encounter.
The Union minister was briefed by senior Army officers about the overall security situation on the LoC, where Pakistan is making desperate attempt to send trained and heavily armed militants into this side from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), where large number of ultras are awaiting at launch pads to sneak into this side before the higher reaches experienced snowfall.
Sources said the minister was informed about the functioning of anti-infiltration grid along the LoC to foil any such attempts. He was also given brief about the successful thwarting of infiltration bids in the recent past by the troops guarding the LoC.
They said minister is also scheduled to meet public delegations at Kupwara and Handwara during his visit there. (Agencies)
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