Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 23: Army chief Gen Bikram Singh today reviewed ‘Operational preparedness’ of Army on the Line of Control (LoC) across Jammu and Kashmir and internal areas of the State with top commanders of the Army including Northern Command chief and General Officers Commanding (GOC) of 14, 15 and 16 corps deployed in the State.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Gen Singh flew in here and drove to the headquarters of Northern Command in Udhampur this morning on a day’s visit during which he had detailed inter-action with top brass of the Army on the situation arising out of post-Afzal Guru hanging, threat perception from the militants in the wake of twin Hyderabad blasts of Thursday, maintenance of ceasefire on the LoC after killing of two Indian soldiers at Mankote in Poonch sector including beheading of one of them and other operational requirements.
GOC-in-C Northern Command Lt Gen KT Parnaik, GOC 16 Corps (Nagrota) Lt Gen DS Hooda, GOC 15 Corps (Srinagar) Lt Gen Om Prakash, GOC 14 Corps (Leh) Lt Gen Bakshi and Commanders of some Division, engaged in anti-militancy operations besides senior officers of the Northern Command attended the meeting, addressed by the Army chief.
This was first visit of Gen Singh to the Northern Command after the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan Army at Mankote in Poonch sector on January 8 and execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru in Tihar jail on February 9 after which the State Government had put Army on alert to meet with any eventuality on account of law and order situation.
Sources said the Army Commanders briefed the Army chief on the situation prevailing on the LoC across the State including presence of militants across the LoC on Pakistan side, who continued to make attempts to infiltrate into this side. The Army chief called for strict surveillance all along the LoC to thwart any recurrence of Mankote like attack and intrusion by the militants, who could make an attempt to strike.
Gen Singh reportedly directed the Army Commanders to ensure that the militants didn’t manage to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir from across the LoC as they could try to revive the militancy, which was at its low ebb. The Commanders apprised the Army chief about number of the militants and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) operation across the State. He reportedly asked the Commanders to respect the ceasefire agreement unless provoked.
It may be mentioned here that Pakistani troops had killed two Army jawans at Mankote after intruding inside the Indian territory on January 8. They had taken away the head of Lance Naik Hem Raj with them, which hasn’t been returned so far. Few days back, a Pakistan Army jawan had sneaked into Indian side from Lam area of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district and was gunned down. As a goodwill gesture, the troops had handed over body of the jawan to Pakistan Army.
Sources said the Army chief took a review of the situation during past about fortnight across the State especially the Kashmir Valley, which has witnessed disturbance post-Afzal Guru execution on February 9. Though the Army was not called out at any place in the Valley to deal with the protests, it had been put on standby by the Government to meet with any eventuality.
Gen Singh reportedly noted that police and para-military Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have contained the situation to quite an extent but asked the Army Commanders to help civil administration and police if their help was sought to meet with any exigency.
Sources said the Army Commanders also discussed the situation in context with twin blasts in Hyderabad on Thursday that claimed 16 lives and left over 80 others injured. The Army Commanders briefed Gen Singh that troops were maintaining high alert on the LoC to ensure that the militants didn’t manage to infiltrate into this side to trigger blasts, which they could be plotting.
Though the Government has denied that the blasts were linked to execution of 26/11 Mumbai blast accused Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, there had been apprehension raised by some Intelligence agencies that they could be revenge attacks.
The Indian Mujahideen, which has been blamed for the twin terror strikes, has no presence in Jammu and Kashmir but it was widely believed to have links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which still has considerable presence in the State.
The Army chief also reviewed general `operational preparedness’ of the Army and expressed satisfaction over it.
The Army Commanders reportedly told the Army chief that there were a number of militants camping across the LoC on Pakistan side and they continued to make attempts to infiltrate into this side. Majority of the infiltration attempts have been foiled, they said.
The Army chief, who was scheduled to land directly at Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur, couldn’t do so due to bad weather and his plane landed at Technical Airport in Jammu from where he drove to Udhampur. He returned to New Delhi this evening.
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