Punjab DGP VK Bhawra reviews security for Amarnath Yatra; meets J&K Police, BSF, IB officials

Pathankot, June 16

DGP VK Bhawra presided over a high-level meeting of state and national security agencies, including the Border Security Force, Intelligence Bureau and Jammu and Kashmir Police, here today and took stock of the security measures to be adopted for the Amarnath Yatra slated to begin on June 30. The Army had sent its representative.

The DGP and senior officers were in town in the wake of PM Narendra Modi’s stopover in the city en route to poll-bound Himachal Pradesh. Deputy Commissioner Harbir Singh and SSP Arun Saini, too, were present.

The 48-day annual pilgrimage is undertaken by around six lakh devotees to the glacial cave shrine located at 13,000 feet in J&K.

Senior officers admitted after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, the rush during the yatra would be more than what was seen during the pre-Covid years.

“We have to be fully prepared to deal with the rush. Hence all necessary measures are being taken to ensure no untoward incident occurs during the yatra,” said an officer. The DGP appealed to the public to inform the police about any unidentified object, vehicle or suspicious person lurking on the route.

The J&K Police officers informed the DGP that the route to be taken by the devotees had been identified and consequently was being sanitised. They also said any vehicle or person coming from any other route won’t be allowed to proceed to the shrine.