OGWs being asked to drop food at particular spot to avoid contact
*Hideouts suspected deep inside forest cover
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 14: Pakistani terrorists operating in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch and hills of Basantgarh in Udhampur district have been using ‘Secured Communication Network’ making it difficult for security agencies to intercept them. Even the Over Ground Workers (OGWs) are not being allowed by the terrorists to come close to them and are being asked to drop food at a particular place from where it is lifted after a couple of days. This is being done to ensure that the OGWs even if arrested are unable to tell security agencies about exact location or hideout of the terrorists.
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Based on in-depth investigations and detailed analysis of the terror network, officials told the Excelsior that the terrorists are using ‘Secured Communication Network’ provided to them by Pakistan at the time of infiltration which security agencies are finding it difficult to intercept to track their location in the mountainous areas of Pir Panjal and some other forests.
“Through Secured Communication Network, the terrorists are not only in touch with each other but also with their mentors in Pakistan to take directions,” the officials said.
Referring to new strategy used by the terrorists for surviving inside the forests of Pir Panjal range for a long time, the officials said some old OGWs, who had earlier worked for the terrorists, are taking calls occasionally either from across the border or from the Valley for dropping food and other items required by the terrorists at a particular spot.
The terrorists don’t come in contact with the OGW who arranges logistics for them. One of them comes and picks up the ration and other items from the spot after survey of the area and takes it deep into the forests where they have been using natural caves as the hideouts.
Officials said police and other security agencies came across some of these OGWs and detained them who narrated that they dropped the logistics at a spot directed by the terrorists and returned. The OGWs had no contact with the terrorists and didn’t know their hideouts, they added.
This, as per the officials, is new strategy adopted by the terrorists to avoid any type of contact with anyone who can give information about them to security agencies. In view of this, security forces are finding it difficult to trace hideouts of the terrorists.
“There are very few OGWs who have assisted the terrorists as local population has outrightly refused to help them. Even some of the OGWs too later informed police,” they said.
Besides ‘Secured Communication Network’, the officials don’t rule out the possibility of the Pakistani Rangers having dug a tunnel along the International Border either in Punjab or between Kathua and Samba to facilitate infiltration of the terrorists.
Previously, the Border Security Force (BSF) had unearthed number of hideouts along the International Border in Samba and Kathua districts which were used by the terrorists to infiltrate. Some of the tunnels were detected by the BSF before they could be used for infiltration.
“A possibility of the terrorists using a tunnel in Punjab border and then taking Kathua route to move towards forest areas of Udhampur is also not ruled out,” the officials said.
There have been reports that 10 to 12 terrorists who have reached Basantgarh forests in Udhampur district had infiltrated somewhere near Kathua and were guided by an OGW to the forest area where they were first intercepted by the local Village Defence Guards (VDG) in which a VDG was martyred while the terrorists had managed to escape.
The officials said the terrorists are still believed to be hiding in the forest cover of Basantgarh and operation to neutralize them by the Army, police and paramilitary forces is on.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani intruder was arrested from a village near the Line of Control (LoC) here in Pallanwalla area of Akhnoor last night.
Identified as Zahir Khan, a resident of Karachi, the intruder was arrested from Milan de Khui village near the LoC in Pallanwala area.
He was seen moving in a suspicious manner by a police party and was taken to the local police post where he disclosed his identity and claimed to have inadvertently crossed from across the border, the officials said.
They said a case under relevant Sections of law was registered against the arrested person and further investigation is on.
In Kathua district, the officials said a joint search operation was launched by police, Army and BSF at village Juthana in Rajbagh area Tuesday morning after villagers informed presence of five suspected terrorists who were looking for food.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone, Anand Jain along with Inspector General of BSF, Jammu Frontier, D K Boora reached Kathua to supervise the anti-terror operation.
According to villagers, a group of at least five suspected terrorists entered into a house and sought food.
However, they fled the scene after getting suspicious that their movement was reported to the security forces, they said.
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