Jammu-Pathankot NH continues to be on terror radar of Pak ultras
QUOTE: “Frequent terror attacks in the last couple of years and this one (Pathankot) have instilled a fear in people. Terrorists had a free run on this highway in recent times and no one wants to get killed,” said Susheel Kumar, lone employee at a filling station in Dayalachak.
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Jammu, January 5
From police stations to Army installations in recent years and an Air Force station in 2016, there has been an increase in attacks by Pakistani militants on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
While the Pathankot airbase attack has brought to the fore the striking capability of Pakistani militants, it has also instilled fear in people.
“Frequent terror attacks in the last couple of years and this one (Pathankot) have instilled a fear in people. Terrorists had a free run on this highway in recent times and no one wants to get killed,” said Susheel Kumar, lone employee at a filling station in Dayalachak.
He attributed the thin traffic and near-deserted highway to the long-drawn-out Pathankot attack.
Kumar recalled the September 26, 2013, attack when three heavily armed militants had a free run in a hijacked truck on the highway.
“They first stormed the Hiranagar police station and then struck an Army camp in Samba, killing an Army officer, three soldiers, four policemen and two civilians. Such attacks do create a fear psychosis in unarmed civilians,” he added.
Since September 2013, at least 40 lives have been lost in seven major terror attacks in J&K and Punjab.
“The Pathankot attack yet again exposed the chinks in the security apparatus on the international border with Pakistan,” said a defence source.
“We do not have an established mechanism to deal with such situations. There seems to be no coordination between various security agencies to fight terrorism. While the NSG, Intelligence Bureau and the NIA come under the purview of the Home Ministry, the Army, which has an Infantry Division and Para Commando team in Mamun and Pathankot, should have been allowed to handle the situation (airbase attack),” the defence source added.
An Army source expressed regrets over the tardiness shown by various agencies in relaying information.
