670 CAPF companies to be deployed for 57-day Amarnath Yatra amid heightened security concerns in Jammu & Kashmir

Srinagar: The Centre will deploy a record 670 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) for this year’s 57-day Amarnath Yatra beginning July 3, amid heightened security concerns in Jammu and Kashmir.

Official sources said the security deployment for the annual pilgrimage has been finalised by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in consultation with the Jammu and Kashmir administration and top security agencies.

The deployment, one of the largest ever for the pilgrimage, will cover the entire yatra route from Lakhanpur on the Punjab-Jammu border to the cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, including the twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam, base camps, highways, railway infrastructure and transit camps.

Additional CAPF companies are expected to start arriving in Jammu and Kashmir in early June and the entire security grid is likely to be in place by June 25, around a week before the pilgrimage begins.

The Army will secure key heights overlooking vulnerable stretches of the yatra routes and the cave shrine, while J&K Police will handle area domination, convoy security and local coordination, sources said.

The enhanced deployment comes in the backdrop of heightened terror concerns after last year’s attack near Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

Security agencies have also intensified anti-terror operations in parts of the Jammu region in recent months following intelligence inputs about attempts by infiltrating militant groups to target security forces and sensitive locations.

Officials said special focus is being laid on securing the Baltal route and the traditional Pahalgam-Chandanwari axis, which witness heavy pilgrim movement during the yatra.

Road Opening Parties (ROPs), anti-sabotage checks, drone surveillance, highway patrols and intensified frisking are expected to form part of the multi-layered security arrangement.

Authorities are also strengthening security along the Jammu-Srinagar railway corridor as many pilgrims are expected to use Vande Bharat train services to reach Kashmir this year. The rail route passing through Udhampur, Katra, Reasi, Banihal and Qazigund will remain under heightened surveillance during the pilgrimage period.

Security agencies are treating yatra as particularly sensitive also because the pilgrimage has been targeted in the past. In July 2017, eight pilgrims were killed when terrorists attacked a bus carrying yatris in Anantnag district.

More than 3.5 lakh pilgrims have already registered for this year’s yatra since the registration process began on April 15 through designated bank branches across the country.

The pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine housing the naturally formed ice Shivling will commence simultaneously from the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district on July 3. It will conclude on August 28 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.