Security agencies meet for yatra security

In the wake of recent fidayeen (suicide) attack in southern Anantnag town which left five CRPF men dead, security agencies in Kashmir are meeting afresh to finalise the security plan for the upcoming annual pilgrimage commencing July 1.

As the attack occurred at Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) Road in Anantnag, which is one of the two routes taken by the pilgrims to reach the holy cave shrine in the south Himalayas, extensive and a fool-proof plan is being prepared by security agencies to ward off any threat by the militants, sources told DH.

The pilgrimage will start from July 1 from Chandanwari route in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.

J&K governor Satya Pal Malik is scheduled to chair an important meeting next week to take stock of the security plan to be re-framed for the pilgrimage in the wake of recent fidayeen attack, sources said and added the meeting will take place in Srinagar where governor, advisors, top officers of police and civil administration will participate.

Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar had Thursday said that previous and fresh attacks by militants will be kept in mind while framing the security plan for the Yatra.

A senior police officer said more focus will remain on guarding the routes leading to the shrine and multi-layer cover of road-opening-parties (ROPs). "There is a higher level of threat perception to the yatra this year as terror groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are waiting for an opportunity to strike. Security forces have to work hard to fend off any such terror attacks," he revealed.

"Security forces have been given specific responsibility to sanitise routes and secure a select number of pilgrim vehicles by sandwiching them between bulletproof troop carriers," he added.

In 2017, militants had targeted a pilgrim bus near Anantnag that left nine pilgrims, including seven women, dead and over a dozen injured.