As the Jammu & Kashmir Government is all set to shift State capital from Jammu to Srinagar in the next fortnight, the security establishment has gone into overdrive to track down a lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) group comprising foreign terrorists, who are likely to target the convoys carrying the State Government staff during the ‘durbar’ move on the National Highway (NH)-44. Securities of all vital installations, including Army camps too have been strengthened to prevent any ‘fidayeen’ assault.
A robust multi-agency command structure is in place to minimise the response time in order to effectively deal with the situation. “Different security agencies, including Army, para-military forces and the State police, are working in close coordination to prevent terror strikes along the National Highway,” police officials told The Pioneer.
The leT group is active in thickly populated Pampore area of Kashmir valley, which is located on the NH-44, thereby, giving the terrorists ample opportunity to escape after targeting the convoys. Since security forces hesitate to retaliate fearing collateral damage, the Army and para-military forces will deploy additional troops along the crucial highway to secure it.
Explaining the significance of adopting these tactics, officials said here on Saturday, at present, part of NH-44 is undergoing repairs and traffic moves one-way. The road is likely to be fully operational by the end of this month to enable free flow of traffic from both the sides. It means, terrorists will have a better chance of running away after hitting the convoy due to heavy rush and this will pose a serious challenge to the counter-insurgency grid including Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the local police.
The most sensitive part of NH-44 stretches at least 78 km from Jawaharlal tunnel to Srinagar and has seen terrorist attacks in the past between Pampore and Bijbehara. Since the ‘durbar’ staff will start shifting to Srinagar from last week of April passing through these sensitive stretches, security forces do not want to take any chances this year.
Not ruling out incidents of stone-pelting besides grenade attacks and firing on the convoys, officials said the operational commanders are constantly reviewing the situation and local intelligence units have been instructed to keep tabs on trouble makers. Admitting that situation was “bad” in the Valley, sources said, even a small incident can trigger violent protests by mobs and this scenario could be taken advantage of by terrorists to carry out attacks.
Keeping these factors in view, the multi-tier security grid is now engaged in shoring up its defences of periphery security of vital security installations across J&K, including the crucial NH-44 to prevent fresh ‘fidayeen’ strikes.
Immediately after the Nagrota terror attack on November 29, 2016, the Army installations dotting Jammu-Pathankot, Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-based Northern command headquarters too were directed to strengthen their defences and build ‘impregnable’ layers of security to prevent entry of any armed terrorists inside the unit.
While the fortification work is in progress, the Army is maintaining a constant vigil along the highway through watch towers and sentry positions raised along the boundary walls of every Army camp.
Crash barriers with nails are installed outside main entry and exit gates besides close circuit TV cameras at the gates to maintain tight vigil on the movement of any suspected person moving closer to the defence installation.
The Army has also stationed its Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) along the Jammu-Pathankot highway to neutralise any threat, they said. Security has also been tightened along the Jammu-Udhampur and Jammu-Akhnoor routes dotted with many Army units along the roads.