Early Times Report
Jammu, June 11:An alert was sounded by J&K Police in and around the Vaishnodevi Shrine in Trikuta hills on Saturday, including its base camp Katra town, following the sighting of two suspects in Army uniform at Domail on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
An Army uniform, along with a pair of shoes, were found abandoned at Domail late Friday evening after a local shopkeeper informed SHO Jhajjar Kotli about the sighting. As senior police officers from both Jammu and Reasi districts reached the spot, the shopkeeper said that he saw two people carrying rucksacks abandon the Army uniform and change into civilian clothes behind bushes. Both appeared to be in a hurry and boarded a Katra-bound bus, the shopkeeper told the police.
Though a number of Army men travelling in their convoys board off their vehicles at Domail and change their uniform for the onward journey to the shrine, what made police sound the alert was the seizure of a uniform and shoes left behind by one of the suspects.
Following inputs that militants could target the upcoming Amarnath pilgrimage to South Kashmir Himalayas from July 2 and the spurt in militant attacks in the Valley, the police are not prepared to leave anything to chance, sources said. Keeping in view of the militant attack on a BSF convoy at Narsu nullah near Udhampur last year, and also reports about a large number of militants camping at the border to infiltrate J&K, security along the 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway has already been stepped up.
To ensure an incident-free and smooth conduct of Amarnath pilgrimage this year, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the deployment of 125 additional companies of para military forces along with over 15 teams of national disaster response force (NDRF), along the national highway and the yatra track. |
