Pilgrimage under threat: Shinde

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 6/20/2013 12:43:40 AM

Amarnath yatra route ‘highly prone’ to militant strikes: J&K govt

SRINAGAR, June 19: The state government has declared the entire Amarnath yatra route as "highly prone" to militant strikes and directed security agencies to take necessary steps to ensure safety of pilgrims.
Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has also said in New Delhi that the yatra faces threat from militants.
Last week the state home department issued a circular about the security for Amarnath Yatra. The circular said, “Considering the security scenario, topography of the yatra area, high potential of terrorist attacks on the yatris to create law and order situation throughout the state and the country, sensitive nature of the yatra, and the high publicity the yatra generates, the entire yatra area is highly prone to terrorist attacks." The circular has been issued to all agencies concerned. The circular directed the Army, police and other security forces to take action as per their standard operating procedures in the matter to ensure safe pilgrimage which starts on June 28.
"Directions (and) inputs received in this regard from intelligence agencies and Unified HQ should be promptly shared with other security forces (and) intelligence agencies and necessary action should be initiated to prevent any mishap," the circular reads.
The security agencies have also been directed to carry out aerial surveillance of the yatra area and deploy spotters in adequate numbers at the camps. "Besides adequate deployment of security forces at the yatra camps, aerial surveillance of the yatra area may be undertaken and spotters may be deployed in adequate numbers at the yatra camps, particularly at the Holy Cave Shrine area to spot unwanted activities (and) suspicious characters," it added.
For effective regulation of the yatra, closed circuit TV cameras will be installed at the camp locations. To ensure that the yatra is effectively regulated, the circular said: "CEO of SASB (Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board) shall explore the possibility of installing CCTVs at Access Control Gates at Domel and Chandanwari." The CCTVs should be linked via internet with control rooms in Srinagar, the circular read.
Union home minister said the Amarnath Yatra is facing a militant threat and the government is making all efforts to ensure security of the pilgrims.
“There is terror threat to Amarnath Yatra,” Shinde told reporters in New Delhi, when asked about reports which suggested threat to the pilgrimage to the cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, according to sources, Director General of CRPF, Pranay Sahay is in Kashmir to review the security arrangement for the Yatra.
The nearly two-month-long annual Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to begin on June 28.
The Home Minister said the government was taking precaution and sending additional forces to ensure safety and security of all pilgrims visiting the cave shrine.
“All efforts will be made to ensure security of every pilgrim,” he said.
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt General K T Parnaik had also said on Monday that the Army has received inputs that militants might try to disrupt the Yatra.
“Intelligence inputs which we are receiving suggest that they (militants) have intentions to disrupt the Yatra,” he had said.

 

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