“Union Home Minister said that the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is in its decisive phase. He added that recent incidents show that terrorism has been forced to shrink from highly organized acts of terrorist violence to a mere proxy war. He stressed that we are determined to root it out as well,” Ministry of Home Affairs said in the statement.
“Amit Shah emphasised seamless coordination amongst the security agencies, identifying vulnerable areas and addressing the security concerns of such areas. Reiterating Zero Tolerance Policy against Terrorism under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister said that the government will leave no stone unturned in rooting out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir,” said the official statement of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Shah presided over the high-level meeting here at the North Block, three days after Prime Minister Modi held a similar meeting where he directed officials to deploy the “full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities” after a spate of terror incidents, including an attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi district of the Jammu region.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Army Chief-designate Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, CRPF Director General Anish Dayal Singh, BSF Director General Nitin Agarwal, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police R R Swain and other top security officials attended the meeting.
Rising terrorist attacks in Jammu:
Since June 9, there have been terror strikes at four places in Reasi, Kathua and Doda, where nine pilgrims were killed, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed, a civilian was injured and at least seven security personnel were injured.Terrorists struck at four places in Reasi, Kathua and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir in four days, killing nine pilgrims and a CRPF jawan and leaving seven security personnel and several others injured.Two suspected Pakistani terrorists were also killed in an encounter with security forces in Kathua district and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from them.
The incidents come ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas, which is set to begin on June 29 and will continue till August 19.
The Amarnath pilgrims travel through two routes — Baltal and Pahalgam — in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said last year, over 4.28 lakh people visited the cave shrine and the figure could go up to five lakh this time.
All pilgrims are expected to be given RFID cards so that their real-time location can be traced and everyone will be given Rs 5 lakh insurance cover. There will also be an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 for each animal carrying the pilgrims.
(with agency inputs)
