MHA to monitor Amarnath yatra security

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 27

With Intelligence inputs suggesting enhanced terror threat to the Amarnath yatra as the first batch of pilgrims will leave Jammu for the base camp in south Kashmir tomorrow, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to directly monitor the security arrangement along the route.

Sources in the MHA revealed that given the latest input on the “enhanced threat perception”, it was decided not to leave the entire responsibility on to the J&K Government to ensure a safe and secure yatra, for which over one lakh pilgrims have already registered.

The MHA, sources said, had deputed officers from its Internal Security and Kashmir divisions to monitor the yatra arrangements on a day-to-day basis, and stay in regular touch with the security officials on the ground. “Two senior officers each from the Internal Security and Kashmir divisions of the ministry have just returned from Srinagar after a detailed security review meeting,” a senior official said.

Intelligence inputs have warned that terrorist groups and even stone-throwers are likely to target the yatra. “Given the prevailing volatile security scenario in the Valley, the indication is there that terrorists and other troublemakers may find the pilgrims a soft target to hit,” a senior MHA official said.

Keeping this in mind, the MHA has already doubled the deployment of central forces for the yatra this year. “Last year 115 companies of the central paramilitary forces were deployed, whereas this year altogether 210 companies have been sent to guard the entire route. Thus 22,000 security personnel would perform the duty,” the official said.

The J&K Police would also be making their own arrangements and aerial surveillance would be conducted through drones, the official added.

As per the plan, the yatra route and all vulnerable points would be secured primarily by the central forces while the J&K Police would be primarily used to provide cover to the convoy of buses and other vehicles transporting the pilgrims.

High threat perception: BSF DG   

Kolkata: Noting that the threat perception for the Amarnath yatra this year was very high, BSF DG KK Sharma on Tuesday said the BSF and security forces were well prepared to ensure that the yatra passed off peacefully. “The situation is very tense this year. This time there is a high level of threat perception. We have taken all precautions regarding the deployment of forces and our commandos,” Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of a BSF programme here. “We will ensure that it passes off peacefully like previous years,” he said. PTI

Core group discusses arrangements

Srinagar: The top security grid in Kashmir on Tuesday got together to discuss the arrangements for the Amarnath yatra. An Army spokesman said senior officials got together for the core group meeting in Badmi Bagh Cantonment to discuss the security situation in Valley. “Arrangements for the Amarnath yatra were also discussed,” he said. The one-hour meeting was co-chaired by General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, Lt Gen JS Sandhu and DGP Shesh Paul Vaid. It discussed in detail the security arrangements for the yatra from both the Pahalgam and Baltal routes. While the upper reaches along the yatra route have been sanitised by the Army, the CRPF will be the main nodal agency for providing security cover to the yatra. TNS