Northern Command on High Alert

Udhampur-based Northern Command headquarters has been kept in a State of high alert following recent terror strike on a BSF convoy along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Narsoo Nallah, 17 kms away from the district headquarters. Two BSF jawans were killed and 13 others injured in the attack by Pakistan-based militants, reportedly belonging to lashkar-e-Tayyeba militant outfit on August 5. 

Ever since the attack took place the security in and around vital installations of command headquarters has been further beefed up to ensure Pakistan based militant outfits are not able to carry out any surprise attacks on the vital security establishment. Security details of top brass of the Northern Command, other strategic locations have been thoroughly reviewed post-terror strike to plug any loopholes. 

Besides, round the clock vigil has been enhanced in and around Udhampur city to prevent any militant attack in the run-up to the Independence Day celebrations.Udhampur district came on the terror radar in May 2011 when an IED blast was triggered near Birma bridge, 2 kms short of Northern Command headquarters premises. Commandant of the Command hospital had a narrow escape in the blast even as his official car bore the brunt of the powerful blast. One civilian was killed and seven others were injured in the blast.

Security experts believe ahead of talks slated between National Security Advisors of both India and Pakistan militant groups aided by Pakistani Intelligence agencies would try to escalate the tensions in the region to put pressure on the Indian establishment to bring back the issue of Kashmir on the dialogue table.

There was no mention of Kashmir in the meticulously drafted joint statement released after the talks in UFA, Russia between Prime Ministers of both the countries. 

Since August 5, various intelligence and investigating agencies are toiling hard to dig out the answer why Pakistani militants selected Narsoo Nallah area on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway to target the BSF convoy. Even a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) currently interrogating captured Pakistani militant Mohd Naved is working overtime to decode the coordinates of the real target given to these Pakistani militants by their handlers from across the border in Pakistan. 

No one in the security establishment was ready to believe the claim made by arrested militant that BSF convoy was on the hit list of militants and they traveled from Kashmir valley to reach Samroli area of Udhampur to carry out a strike. If leads provided by Mohd Naved are to be taken seriously then some of the sleeper cells are active across Udhampur and it is for this reason the entire security grid including the State police and paramilitary force have been alerted to thwart any nefarious designs. Several over ground workers who were notorious for such activities in the past have been quizzed by the investigators to piece together any link with the terror strike. 

As some of the officers believe that two recent terror strikes in Dinanagar area of Gurdaspur and now in Narsoo Nallah in Udhampur carry the imprint of Talah Saeed, son of Mohd Hafiz Saeed, they are not ready to take the confessions of Mohd Naved on face value. The security agencies are also growing nervous over the claim made by Mohd Naved that a big group of infiltrators had breached the barbed wire fence to sneak inside the Indian Territory. It could not be ascertained as yet whether more than two Pakistani militants made it to Udhampur and two of them launched the strike to divert the attention of the security forces while the other two managed to dodge the security agencies and have been hiding to launch another terror strike at an opportune time.