Pak desperate to push terrorists, troops on high alert
*UAS, drones being used regularly for surveillance
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 6: The Anti-Infiltration Grid has been further strengthen along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu region and Baramulla and Kupwara in the Kashmir division amid reports that Pakistan was trying to push terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir to increase their dwindling strength to cause subversive activities.
“Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), drones, surveillance cameras and many other sophisticated equipments have been installed along the LoC and manual patrolling has been further intensified all along the LoC to ensure that the terrorists don’t manage to infiltrate from Pakistan,” officials told the Excelsior.
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Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi is expected to visit the Northern Command Headquarters and the LoC to supervise the Anti-Infiltration Grid after few days, the sources said, adding Gen NS Raja Subramani, who recently took over as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) may also pay a visit to Jammu and Kashmir shortly as the UT remains prime focus because of the infiltration attempts by Pakistan and ongoing anti-terror operations in the upper reaches.
Northern Command chief Lt Gen Pratik Sharma and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 Corps Lt Gen PK Mishra have regularly been visiting the LoC to review anti-infiltration measures taken by the troops and to further strengthen them to ensure zero intrusions from Pakistan.
Asserting that adequate measures are in place on the LoC, sources, however, said that the steps are constantly being reviewed, improved, enhanced and upgraded to thwart designs of Pakistan and the terrorists.
Pakistan, as per the sources, is worried about dwindling strength of the terrorists and inability of those who are present to cause any terror act due to stringent security measures in place across the Union Territory including the sensitive and vulnerable areas. The killing of Saifullah, top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander and his three associates in upper reaches of Chatroo in Kishtwar district in encounters with security forces in February this year, has further dented the terrorists and their mentors sitting in Pakistan as he was operating in different areas for the last two years and was instrumental in several terror attacks.
“Some of the foreign terrorists present in Jammu division have fled to the upper reaches of Kishtwar, Udhampur and other districts as snow has already melted there in the summer,” the sources but added that the terrorists keep changing their hideouts from one hilly area to another depending on pressure of the security forces.
Sources said majority of the infiltration attempts made by the terrorists with backing of Pakistan army in the past on the LoC have been successfully thwarted by the troops this year in which number of terrorists have been neutralized and rest fled back under the cover of darkness or dense forest area.
In anticipation of fresh intrusion bids along the LoC, security forces have been maintaining high alert along the LoC. Sources said sophisticated gadgetry has also been playing significant role in early detection of movement on the LoC leading to immediate action by the troops to neutralize the terrorists.
Security forces have trapped a group of three terrorists in Dorimal area of Gambhir Mugalan in Rajouri district for past about a fortnight. Contacts have been established by the security forces with the terrorists twice.
Security forces expressed confidence that the terrorists will be eliminated sooner or later.
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