The top brass of the Border Security Force (BSF), Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab police, along with representatives of the Central agencies, on Thursday attended the Inter-State Coordination Conference in Kathua to further strengthen the security grid and prevent infiltration from across the border.
After the Kathua ambush, in which five soldiers of the Indian Army sacrificed their lives in the line of duty on July 8, it is believed that the suspected group of foreign terrorists may have infiltrated inside the Indian territory from across the International border.
When terrorism was at its peak, the Kathua-Billawar-Badnota-Basantgarh-Bhaderwah-Kishtwar axis was considered a traditional route of infiltration taken by the terrorists to enter the Kashmir valley.
Former Union Minister hailing from the region, Dr Karan Singh, said the spate of terrorist attacks in the Jammu region are a matter of great concern. “I trust the civilian and military authorities are making every effort to track down the militants as soon as possible. I do have one suggestion for Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. For many years, the Jammu Division was under the Nagrota Corps whose headquarters are hardly thirty miles from Jammu. Some years ago, for some obscure reason, the Jammu Division was removed from Nagrota and placed under Western Command in Chandigarh, over 200 miles away,” he said.
“I think that the old system should be retained to ensure better and integrated dominance of the area in a militancy environment..,” said the senior Congress leader.
According to official sources, the deliberations during the high-level security review meeting were focused on enhancing border security and synergy between the two State Police Forces and the Border Guarding Force.
The conference was attended by Spl DG BSF Western Command, YB Khurana, DGP J&K, RR Swain, DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), J-K, Vijay Kumar, ADG (Law and Order), Punjab, Arpit Shukla and Inspector General-rank BSF officers of Punjab and Jammu were also present at the meeting.
Detailed discussions took place on how to improve the intelligence gathering, maintaining a tight vigil on the suspicious movement of anti-national elements, and exposing the sleeper cells of overground workers mushrooming in the border belt of Kathua and Punjab.
According to the fresh assessment made by the various security agencies, the local overground workers provided shelter, logistics and crucial information regarding the movement of security vehicles to these terrorists and in some of the cases also escorted them to their safe hideouts without coming on the radar of the security forces. In the case of the Kathua ambush, a sustained investigation is going on to identify the terror associates active in the area.
Meanwhile, combing and search operations continued for the fourth day in succession to track down the footprints of the terrorists behind the attack. An adequate number of troops have been deployed in the hilly areas of Kathua, Udhampur, and Doda to neutralize the hiding group of terrorists on the run.
The security forces combing the deep forests were treading cautiously to prevent getting honey-trapped. The security forces suspected the foreign terrorists may have planted Improvised explosive devices in and around their safe hideouts to inflict injuries on the security forces.
