‘Major anti-militancy offensive launched ahead of pilgrimage’
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Apr 15: Ahead of the annual Amarnath yatra, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla today reviewed its security and preparations here in a meeting and stressed for fool proof security for the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage that is being held after a gap of two years.
Bhalla, accompanied by Director Intelligence Bureau (IB) Arvind Kumar and other senior officers of the Union Home Ministry, is on two-day visit to Kashmir to assess the ground situation especially the security and arrangements for Amarnath yatra.
The security review meeting that was held here was attended by the Director General of J&K Police, Dilbag Singh, Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Director General Border Security Forces, Additional Director General CRPF besides senior police, para-military and Intelligence and officers from the Civil administration.
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An official said that Bhalla stressed on keeping a close watch on suspects and directed the security officials to speed up the anti-militancy operations ahead of pilgrimage. He hailed the synergy between various security agencies which has led to successes against the militancy in Kashmir.
The official said that he stressed for taking all possible steps for the smooth conduct of the yatra and fool proof security so that there is no untoward incident.
The official said that he was briefed about the measures taken for the smooth conduct of the Yatra. He was told that security forces have decided to launch a major offensive against militants and their sympathisers ahead of the pilgrimage this year. He was also told that a multi-layer security grid remains in place for the incident free yatra that will begin on June 30 this year and last for 43 days.
And in the meantime, the 40, 000 additional para-military troops that are being deployed for the yatra have started arriving in Kashmir.
An official said that every day at least four companies of additional security forces will arrive in Kashmir who are going to be deployed along the highways, at base camps, vulnerable points and also at en-route Shri Amarnath Ji in Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal, Sonamarg in Ganderbal district.
He said that the process of bringing additional security forces to Kashmir for smooth conduct of pilgrimage has started. “Each day, on an average, four additional companies arrive in Kashmir. The companies are of CRPF, ITBP, BSF and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB),” he added. He said that the process will continue till May end and they will be deployed accordingly.
As part of the security plan, the pilgrims will be travelling in vehicles having RIFD chips that will help police to track their movement. A cut-off timing will soon be released for the vehicles ferrying yatris so that they remain under the radar of security agencies.
Government is expecting a historic yatra this year with a record number of yatris. Government expected six to eight lakh yatris this year.
The Home Secretary along with the officials are returning New Delhi tomorrow.
The Home Secretary and other officials also visited the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police office at Cargo in Srinagar after the review meeting where they were briefed about the recent operation conducted by the Police against two Pakistani militants who carried out an attack in Maisuma area of Srinagar.
The officials at the Cargo gave detailed presentation about the successful operation that was conducted in which two militants – Mohammad Bhai alias Abu Qasim, alias Mir Shoaib alias Mudassir and Abu Arsalan alias Khalid alias Aadil – were neutralised in Bishembar Nagar area of Srinagar on April 10.
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