'Ready to tackle terrorists waiting to sneak into J&K'

Terrorists are waiting for an opportunity to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan, a top Border Security Force (BSF) officer said on Friday while giving the assurance that his force is fully geared up to meet the challenge.

The officer also said that BSF troops have been trained to deal with the threat posed by the possible dropping of weapons through drones by Pakistan-based terrorists, though no such incident has been reported here so far.

"The major challenges faced by our troops along the Jammu border throughout the year include armed infiltration of terrorists, tunnelling, sniping and of course the drones though no such activity was reported here till date," Inspector General of BSF, Jammu frontier, N S Jamwal said.

He said that with the onset of winter as visibility drops due to foggy conditions and snowfall in mountainous areas, all necessary measures have been taken this year too to scuttle any attempts to push terrorists and arms into the Union Territory.

"We are fully prepared for any challenge. There is an increase in ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and International Border particularly in Kathua district of Jammu. Such things do not make any impact as our troops are prepared for winter and respond befittingly," Jamwal said.

He said though there is no major threat from drones and so far no incident of enemy drone citing has been reported from anywhere along the border in Jammu region, training programmes have been conducted for the troops to sensitize them to the possibility of such activities.

"The challenge is there, as we have seen dropping of weapons through drones in neighbouring states. We are alert and appropriate action will be taken (in case any drone is spotted in the region)," the IG, BSF said.

Asked about the number of terrorists present at launch pads across the border, he said such numbers are mostly based on speculation.

"However, the terrorists are waiting for an opportunity to sneak into this side. We too are waiting to take action whenever they try to infiltrate. You stay relaxed," the officer said.

"I want to assure the people of the country that they should have faith in the security forces who are fully prepared to deal with any challenge. We will not allow any activity which can harm the people or make them feel unsafe," he said.

The BSF officer was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of Inter Frontier Wrestling competition organised at its Paloura headquarters here.

A total of 170 wrestlers participated in the three-day competition. BSF North Bengal Frontier won the over-all winner trophy in freestyle wrestling while the runners-up trophy went to the Gujarat Frontier.

In freestyle wrestling, Constable Dinesh, North Bengal Frontier, won the gold medal in 70 kg category and Constable Manvendra won gold in 92 kg category, a BSF spokesman said, adding, in Greco-Roman category Jammu Frontier won the overall winner trophy while North Bengal Frontier won the runners-up trophy.

In individual category Greco-Roman Wrestling, Constable Ajit Singh won the gold medal in 60 kg category, Constable Laxminarayan won gold in 63 kg category, Satwinder won gold in 77 kg category, he said.

Dinesh Kumar won the trophy of Best Wrestler in freestyle wrestling and Satyender won the overall best trophy in Greco-Roman Wrestling.