The vulnerability of security forces on a 35-km stretch between Bijbehara and Pampore on National Highway (NH) 44 that connects Srinagar to the entire country has become a serious cause of concern for the security establishment. The recent attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy on NH-44 in which eight personnel were killed was the sixth such ambush in the last one year. As many as 15 security personnel have been killed on the NH-44 stretch in Jammu & Kashmir during the period.
The latest militant strike has forced the security forces to redraw their strategy. While the Army is strengthening security of its camps located on the highway, it is also conducting surprise raids in the nearby jungles and mountainous regions to deny militants any hiding space. At the same time, the paramilitary forces are carrying out intensive patrolling to secure ultra-sensitive stretches.
The 35-km stretch connecting Bijbehara with Pampore, popularly known as the saffron town of Kashmir, is turning out to be a booby trap for security forces. Between December 2015 and June 25, 2016 more than one dozen personnel have lost their lives in at least half-a-dozen terror strikes.
Admitting that this trend of violence was a cause of concern, officials said the operational commanders were reviewing their counter-insurgency drills in the sensitive stretches of the highway, about 130 km, from Jawahar Tunnel on the Jammu & Kashmir National Highway to the Valley.
Incidentally, one of the base camps at Baltal for pilgrims bound for Amarnath Yatra is also located on NH-44 and a large volume of traffic carrying pilgrims passes through it. Keeping this in view, security forces — including CRPF, Border Security Force (BSF), Army and the local police — have stepped up vigil on this route, they said.
The drill includes dominating the vantage points all along the yatra route on this vulnerable stretch, thereby denying militants any vantage position to hurl grenades or fire from a long range. Moreover, areas adjoining the highway are regularly sanitised by road opening parties and the number of security personnel deployed there was also increased in the wake of the attack on the CRPF convoy, officials said.
Explaining the strategic importance of the Bijbehara-Pampore stretch, officials said the entire 35-km stretch is dotted with population on both sides of the highway.
Militants, with the help of their local sympathizers living in the colonies along the route, take advantage of this fact and ambush convoys of the security forces. On their part, the security forces are constraint to use minimal force to avoid collateral damage resulting in civilian casualties, they said.
The militants targeting the security forces seem to be well versed with the local terrain and have been exploiting the local situation to attack convoys. These militant groups, who have possibly infiltrated from across the border in the recent weeks, are supported by the Over Ground Workers (OGW’s) of terror outfits in the area. The OGW’s know the pattern of convoy movement and traffic spots where congestion prevents smooth movement under tight security arrangements.
Since the four-laning of the highway is also going on in the area, the traffic movement is sometimes affected, giving enough opportunity to these militants to target the security forces in transit.
Due to constant movement of security convoys along the highway daily, the militant commanders view them as soft targets and choose their own timing to hit them and avenge killing of their cadres.
On June 25, when CRPF jawans were ambushed, on their way back from a day-long exercise, by a heavily-armed group of militants just outside Pampore town, they could not match the firepower of the ultras, resulting in the death of eight personnel and critical injuries to 22 others.
Two militants were neutralised in the heavy exchange of fire from both the sides. Some of the critically-injured CRPF jawans fought valiantly to pin down the terrorists before reinforcements or road opening parties arrived to take on the militants.
The Bijbehara-Pampore stretch saw another ambush in the first week of June when three BSF jawans were killed and nine jawans were injured in a similar strike near Bijbehara. The State police set up a security check point near Sempoora after the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) complex in Pampore was targeted on February 20, 2016.
National Highway 44 is the longest-running major North-South National Highway in India that starts from Srinagar and terminates in Kanyakumari. The highway is 3,745 km long.