Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu on Sunday evening, beginning his three-day visit to J&K to review the security situation in the Union Territory and check on the progress of development work.
He was received at the airport by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and taken to Raj Bhavan. Shah is likely to visit the J&K BJP headquarters later in the evening and meet senior party leaders and legislators in connection with the party’s Foundation Day celebrations.
On Monday, he will visit the International Border in Kathua and meet the families of police personnel who died fighting militants. He will hand over appointment letters to the members of these policemen’s families who have been given jobs in various government departments on compassionate grounds.
On Tuesday, Shah is likely to hold two separate high-level meetings at Srinagar Raj Bhavan to first take stock of various development works and later to review the security situation, especially in view of a spurt in infiltration attempts from across the International Border in Kathua and subsequent movement of militants from there to Udhampur and Doda districts.
Spurt in infiltration
Pointing out that the spurt in infiltration attempts by militants in Kathua and their movement in the higher reaches of the district, touching Udhampur and Doda, have become a cause of concern, sources said that some strategy to deal with the situation is likely to be chalked out at the high-level meeting attended by top officials of the Home Ministry, police, security forces and intelligence agencies in Srinagar.
For nearly a fortnight, security forces and police have been engaged in multiple search operations at a massive scale in the adjoining forests of Kathua and Udhampur district to track down militants who crossed the International Border from Pakistan last month.
The security forces had first contact with them in the forests near Saniyal village of Hiranagar on March 23, but the latter managed to flee from there leaving behind some ammunition and explosives among other things. Four days later, security forces re-established contact with the militants nearly 30 km away from Saniyal and engaged in a gunfight in which two militants and four policemen were killed. Some militants are believed to have escaped during the confrontation and searches are underway to track them down.
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Shah’s visit also comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off the first train between Katra town and Srinagar on April 19 and the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra in the South Kashmir Himalayas from July 3 to August 9.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
