Calls for high alert, preparedness ahead of G20 meeting
*Police officials give detailed briefing on situation
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 25: Close on the heels of Bhatta Durrian encounter in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district in which five Army bravehearts sacrificed their lives, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today held high-level review of security scenario in Jammu region with top civil and police officials and reportedly called for tracking down the militants and ensuring peace ahead of major international event in Jammu and Kashmir next month.
Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Home Secretary RK Goyal, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor Dr Mandeep K Bhandari, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, Additional DGP Jammu Mukesh Singh, Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and all four DIGs of the province including Shakti Pathak, Suleman Choudhary, Sunil Gupta and Dr Haseeb Mughal attended the meeting which was held at the Civil Secretariat and lasted three and half hours.
“An in-depth review of security scenario in Jammu region was carried out in the meeting but major focus remained on twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch where three major terror incidents have taken place in last nearly four months in which nine civilians and five Army personnel have lost their lives,” reliable sources told the Excelsior.
There was strong concern in the meeting that militants involved in all three attacks, whether same or separate, remained untraced so far, they said.
All police officers gave detailed presentation of their Zones to the Lieutenant Governor in the meeting including militants and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) active in their areas, if any, and action planned to nab them.
While the Jammu and Kashmir Government didn’t issue any official statement on the meeting, sources said the Lieutenant Governor voiced deep concern over latest terror act at Bhatta Durrian and called upon police for conducting coordinated search operations with other security agencies to neutralize those involved behind this and two other acts including Dhangri and Alpha Gate.
Sinha is also reported to have stressed for stepped up vigil ahead of G20 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting in Srinagar from May 22-24 to ensure that the militants don’t succeed in their evil designs ahead of the first major international event in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of special status of erstwhile State and its bifurcation into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Nearly 100 international delegates and 70-80 Indian Members are expected to attend the meeting. Pakistan, however, continued to make attempts to trigger terror attacks ahead of the G20 meeting and Bhatta Durrian attack is being seen as handiwork of Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit though responsibility for it has been taken by another group.
The Lieutenant Governor is also reported to have called for adequate deployment and preparedness on part of police in entire Jammu province and ensure that the militants don’t manage to strike again.
Police officers during their presentation were understood to have stated that the militants responsible for terror attack on the Army vehicle at Bhatta Durrian in Mendhar area of Poonch district last Thursday were reportedly hiding in the area for some time and wasn’t a new group. A possibility is also being explored to see whether they were involved in Dhangri and Alpha Gate attacks.
Two civilians were killed in terror attack at Army’s Alpha Gate in Rajouri on December 16, 2022 while seven civilians from minority community, two of them minors, were gunned down by the militants at Dhangri in the same district on January 1, 2023.
“Various other aspects of security scenario in Jammu region also figured at the meeting,” sources said.
It may be mentioned here that five Army bravehearts sacrificed their lives and another was injured in a terror attack by the militants at Bhatta Durrian in Mendhar area of Poonch district in broad day-light on Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch National Highway last Thursday. Militants used steel core bullets, sniper shot and grenades in the attack.
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