Differences have cropped up between the Intelligence agencies and Defence Ministry over infiltration bid by militants into Keran sector in Kashmir in September. While the Intelligence agencies say there is no evidence on ground to suggest infiltration bid by 30-odd militants, the Defence Ministry has backed the Army's version.
The Army has maintained that 30-odd militants infiltrated into Shalabatu area in North Kashmir on September 24 and the operation to flush them out lasted for more than 15 days. The Intelligence agencies claim there is no evidence to indicate such a bid.
These differing versions cropped up during a meeting of the National Security Council earlier this month to take stock of security situation in the country; increasing infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations on the line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, sources said here on Wednesday. Representatives of Defence, Home and External Affairs Ministries besides Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are part of the NSC.
Some members of this body expressed doubts over the veracity of the Army's version about the infiltration bid in which no body of slain militants or weapons were recovered.
Intelligence agencies said they had no evidence of the infiltration bid by militants and Pakistan Special Forces soldiers in Shalabatu. They also claimed that technical intelligence also did not corroborate the Army's account, sources said.
Rejecting the Intelligence agencies contentions, officials said the Ministry totally backed the Army's version. Moreover, they questioned the claims made by the agencies and said their agents were not present on the exact location where the fortnight long operation took place as the Intelligence officers were based four to five kms away from the site.
Army officials also said the operation took place in rugged terrain with dense jungles and militants were denied entry into the hinterland and most of them escaped across the line of Control (loC) into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Elaborating upon the operation, they said terrorists initially made a desperate infiltration bid in Shalabatu area, which was foiled by the Army. The militants then attempted to infiltrate from multiple points in adjacent areas in the same sector, like Gujjar Dor and Fatehgali, where some of them were engaged and eliminated.