J&K police conducts mock drill for area domination, security of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir police along with other agencies on Friday conducted a mock drill for area domination and security of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi Mohita Sharma said the safety and security of the shrine and pilgrims is the prime responsibility of police and every effort will be made to ensure the same.

The mock drill was conducted in base camp Katra and the shrine area.

The purpose of the mock drill was to ensure inter-agency coordination in the area of responsibility and duty assigned in case of any emergency and response thereof, the SSP said.

In the mock drill, she said all the adjoining villages near the track leading to the shrine were sanitised. Village Defence Guards along with police dominated the area around the shrine, plugging off the routes to the track, the SSP said.

Sharma briefed all the officers involved in the mock drill to understand their roles and responsibilities and further shared it down the line with every jawan involved in the security of the shrine.

She asked people to share information about any suspicious movement or sighting of any suspicious person immediately with the police.

This comes as terrorists struck at four places in Reasi, Kathua and Doda districts between Sunday and Wednesday, killing nine people, including seven pilgrims returning from Shiv Khori temple and a CRPF jawan.

Seven security personnel, 41 pilgrims and a villager were also injured in the attacks, while two terrorists were eliminated in one of the encounters in Kathua.

Meanwhile, officials said security forces conducted searches in Doda district headquarters and several villages in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district following reports about the movement of suspicious persons.

No suspect was found during the operations, they said.

The cordon and search operations are also continuing in various parts near the scene of the terror attacks, the officials said.