CM says no mention of increased threat to Amarnath Yatris in UHQ meeting

Says, 'Yatra attack feared' headlines are a gross exaggeration’

5 Dariya News (Tariq Bhat)

Srinagar 20-Jun-2013

Chief minister Omar Abdullah today rubbished reports about a heightened security threat to the pilgrims joining the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra in valley."Talk about confusion within intelligence agencies, nowhere in the UHQ (Unified Headquarters) meeting yesterday (Wednesday) was a mention made of an increased threat# yatra", Omar wrote on twitter while reacting to newspaper reports here quoting army and intelligence agency sources that militants plan to target this year's Amarnath Yatra beginning June 28.

In another tweet, Omar said: "In fact, I asked a pointed question about whether the threats this year were higher than previous years and the answer was a categorical no."He also criticised the local media for overplaying the threat. "So, while we will take all the regular precautions with a multi-layer security grid, 'Yatra attack feared' headlines are a gross exaggeration," he said.

The chief minister Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Unified Command.The pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in the Kashmir Himalayas will commence simultaneously from both the Baltal and the Pahalgam routes on June 28 and culminate on Raksha Bandhan (Aug 21).The traditional Pahalgam route involves a trek of 46 km from Pahalgam tourist resort, 100 km south of Srinagar, while the route from Baltal, 110 km north of Srinagar, is a shorter but quite steep and arduous.