Home Secretary, L-G review anti-terror ops in hilly areas

Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Thursday held a one-to-one meeting with Lt Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan in Jammu to review the security situation in the Union Territory.

The discussions focused on ongoing anti-terror operations and the operational preparedness of the security apparatus. Mohan, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu, later chaired a high-level meeting to review heightened operational security in hilly areas, the overall security scenario and ongoing anti-terror operations, including drone incursions along the borders.

Officials said that the Lt Governor and the Union Home Secretary discussed the prevailing situation in the hilly and mountainous areas of the Jammu region, where multiple terrorists are believed to be hiding. Security forces have launched search operations to neutralise these ultras.

Coordination among various agencies — including the police, paramilitary forces, and the Army and intelligence agencies— also came up for discussion. Issues related to strengthening security measures in the hilly areas of Jammu in view of recent activities were reviewed.

Later, the Home Secretary continued his engagements for the second consecutive day at the convention centre in Jammu, where senior officials from various security forces, the police and intelligence agencies participated.

The meeting reviewed border security management, security enhancement in the hills of Jammu, inter-agency coordination and assessed ongoing anti-terror operations and drone incursions along the borders.

The review comes a week after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on January 8, directed security forces to continue operations against terrorist infrastructure and terror financing in a mission mode.

The Home Secretary arrived in Jammu on Wednesday afternoon on a two-day visit and held a high-level meeting with security officials. The meeting was attended by Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, Border Security Force Director General Praveen Kumar, Central Reserve Police Force chief G P Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, and other senior officers.