Plan to check insurgency in J-K okayed
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 19 — An action plan to combat insurgency was approved today at a meeting of the Unified Headquarters. The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah presided over the meeting.

The action plan was prepared by a committee of senior officers of security forces, the State Police and Union Home Ministry, Functionaries headed by Special Secretary, Mr M.B. Kaushal.

Mr Kaushal who was present at the meeting assured Centre's full support for the execution of the action plan to effectively crush militancy in the Jammu region. Besides the Chief Minister, the meeting was attended by Lt. Gen. D.S. Chauhan, Corps Commander, and other senior officers of the Army, paramilitary forces, police and intelligence agencies.

During the meeting the need for checking infiltration and armed smuggling from across the border was emphasised after the state authorities disclosed that since the Indo-Pak border continued to remain porous the security agencies within the state had a tough job in dealing with the increased number of foreign mercenaries. Dr Abdullah also stressed the need for increasing pressure on militants, building of intelligence network and mounting constant vigil on the border to prevent the foreign mercenaries from sneaking into the state.

The meeting reviewed the role of the village defence committees (VDCs) in the Doda, Rajouri and Udhampur areas and it was decided to strengthen these committees and increase their number.

The Director General Police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat told the meeting that the number of VDCs in Doda district had been increased from 350 to 765 and a plan had been finalised for increasing their number to over 900 in Doda district alone within one month. The state authorities explained to the Special Secretary Union Ministry Home, that members of the VDCs remained handicapped as they lacked sophisticated weapons. The Chief Minister agreed with this assessment and directed the agencies concerned to make available better arms for members of the VDCs.

The Army authorities said the Indian troops had taken a series of steps to check infiltration and arms smuggling. They claimed that the rate of infiltration had come down. However, the state police and the intelligence agencies did not seem to agree with the assessment of the border situation with the Army authorities.