Alert issued as terror attack threat looms over Amarnath Yatra

Ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, sources told India Today TV on Friday that terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are planning a terror attack on the Baltal route of the pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the exclusive information provided by the sources, Jaish terrorists might target security forces and the Amarnath Yatra convoy on the national highway going towards Baltal near Kangan area.

Sources said Jaish terrorists have infiltrated the hilly areas of Nagabal, Kangan and Ganderbal.

These areas are considered dangerous as Gurez sector lies the near the Line of Control (LoC). It is believed that Pakistan has tried several times to infiltrate terrorists into India from this area. However, with security forces being extra alert this year, only a few terrorists have been successful in infiltrating from this area.

In wake of the recent threat, forces have issued an alert on both the routes- Pahalgam and Baltal - and have also increased security arrangements in all areas.

The first batch of the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims will be flagged off on June 30 from Jammu under the strict vigil of security forces with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrolling the area along the route.

"There is a 268 km long National Highway in the districts through which Amarnath Yatra passes and it is the most sensitive area for us. Therefore, there is full deployment on the national highway," said IGP MK Sinha.

Further elaborating on the arrangements he added, "The highways have been divided into zones and sectors where all zones have a gazetted officer deployed and all sectors have a non-gazetted officer. In Jammu specifically, gazetted officers have been deployed even in sectors."

Technology is also playing a major role in ensuring smooth passage for the devotees. All vehicles will be tagged by radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags so that they can be tracked, Sinha explained.

In addition, all pilgrims travelling without cars will have bar coding on their registration forms. Drones are also being used by the security forces to keep strict vigil in the area.

Jammu Police will also be setting up check-posts where police, central police forces and Army personnel will be deployed as per requirement.

Moreover, all lodging centres, token centres, registration centres and 'yatri niwas' in Bhagwati Nagar- the starting point of Yatra - will be guarded by central paramilitary forces and local police.

IGP Sinha also added that six sensitive points have been identified on the highway which will have teams from traffic police, local police, state disaster response force and health services if there is an incident of landslide or traffic congestion.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state for two days on Wednesday to review the security arrangements for the Yatra and to take stock of developmental activities.

Over one lakh pilgrims have registered for the 46-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra which will begin on July 1 and conclude on August 15.