PM Modi arrives in J&K on one-day visit

Amid four-tier security arrangements, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday to inaugurate a series of developmental projects worth Rs 44000 crore besides kickstarting BJP’s election campaign in the restive Himalayan state.

Modi arrived in Leh town of cold desert region Ladakh in the morning where he laid the foundation stone of new terminal building of the airport and inaugurated the Leh University, the first ever in the region.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to address a rally in Samba area of Jammu following which he will visit Srinagar. He will lay of the foundation stones of two AIIMS in Vijaypur (Jammu) and Awantipora (Kashmir), a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said. The Union Cabinet had recently approved setting up of the premier hospitals in the border state.

A four-tier security apparatus has been put in place for the Prime Minister’s visit. While Modi’s special security guards (SSG) have “taken over” the venues of his visit, a top police official said that unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones have been pressed into service to maintain aerial vigil.

A top police officer said special commandoes have been deployed on the roads leading to the venues where the PM is scheduled to visit. All angles and possible challenges have been kept in mind while framing and devising the security cover for the PM Modi’s visit, he said.

“We won’t leave anything to chance. We can’t rule out militant strikes and for that all measures have been put in place to foil all the possible bids,” the officer said.

In Srinagar traffic has already been suspended on the road stretch from Dalgate to Nishat and the traffic department has already announced a traffic advisory asking people to take alternate routes.

He said the mobile internet service was suspended shortly after midnight as a ‘precautionary measure’ in view of PM’s visit. Police also launched a crackdown on the separatist leaders ahead of the arrival of Modi. While hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani continues to remain under house detention at his uptown Hyderpora residence, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house arrest at his posh Nigeen residence.

Modi had last visited the state on May 19, 2018 to lay the foundation of Zojila Tunnel project, which once completed will provide all-weather road connectivity to frontier Ladakh region that at present remains cut off for four-to-five months in a year owing to heavy snowfall during winter.

Meanwhile, on the call of separatists, a shutdown is being observed in Kashmir against the visit PM’s visit to the state.

The call for shutdown was issued by Geelani, Mirwaiz and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik as a mark of protest against “tyranny and oppression” during five years of Modi rule. All shops and other business establishments in Srinagar remained closed while traffic is off the roads.