Home Minister arrives in Jammu for two-day visit to review security

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday arrived in Jammu on a two-day visit where he will review security situation of the Union Territory. On Friday, he will visit the shelling-affected Poonch district.

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This is Shah’s first visit to the Union Territory post Operation Sindoor.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha received Shah at the airport from where they drove straight to the Raj Bhawan.

Shah chaired a high-level security review meeting late tonight. Besides, the Lieutenant Governor, senior officials of the Army, paramilitary forces, police, intelligence agencies and civil administration attended the meeting.

Apart from discussion on the security situation and ongoing anti-terrorist operations, Shah will be reviewing the security and administrative measures concerning the Amarnath Yatra beginning from July 3.

After a night stay in Jammu, Shah will fly to Poonch and interact with shelling-hit families on Friday. He will also visit damaged religious places, including Singh Sabha Gurdwara and hold a meeting with officers to assess the damage in the worst-hit district, officials said.

The minister will also visit the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Poonch and interact with the jawans. He will address the civilians affected by Pakistani shelling at Dak Bungalow in Poonch and the BSF soldiers at their Unit Headquarters at Khanetar.

Shah is likely to distribute appointment letters to the next of kin of civilians killed in the shelling, they said.

This will be the Home minister’s third visit to J&K since April 6 and first after the Indian armed forces struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the early hours of May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

After conducting a three-day tour on April 6, Shah again visited Kashmir on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam attack.

Ahead of Shah’s visit to J&K, the Congress demanded that he should announce a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation package for border residents, including the allotment of five marla plots at safer locations. “The victims of cross-border shelling in Poonch deserve immediate relief and rehabilitation. We demand a relief and rehabilitation package for them. We demand that five marla plots be allotted to them at safer places so that they can rebuild their lives,” said J&K Congress working president Raman Bhalla, adding that Shah must make this announcement during his visit.

(With PTI inputs)