The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, today took detailed review of security arrangements for Shri Amarnath Yatra in Jammu region at a high level meeting attended by top officers of Civil administration, Police, CRPF, BSF, Army and other security agencies.The Deputy Chief Minister discussed all security aspects, particularly in the backdrop of yesterday’s attack on Yartri bus in Kashmir and underlined the need for strict vigil in vulnerable areas.The meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr M K Bhandari, IGP Jammu, S.D. Singh Jamwal, IG BSF, IG CRPF, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, SSP Jammu, Dr. Sunil Gupta, Director Tourism, Smita Sethi, ADC Jammu, Arun Manhas besides senior functionaries of PDD, PHE and other Departments.Receiving brief about the deployment at various levels of security ring, the Deputy Chief Minister asked heads of all the security agencies to revisit the coordination plan to fill the gaps, if any. He stressed the concerned to put in their best to ensure smooth and incident free Yatra. He said the Anantnag attack on late Monday evening is a dastardly and an inhuman act which should be condemned at all levels.
Dr Nirmal Singh stressed the need on plugging all vulnerable points, particularly along border belt to keep check on the suspicious movement and infiltration from across the border. He said that the security of pilgrims is the top priority of the Government and sought full cooperation of civil administration, police, army and other security agencies. He also stressed on keeping a close check on elements, who may flare up communal tension in the state. For this he called upon both civil and security setup to involve civil society in identifying and keeping a check on such elements. It was informed that today 3290 pilgrims left Jammu base camp in 105 vehicles for onward journey to cave shrine. The meeting was told that a total of 35, 000 Yatris were registered at Jammu base camp in last 13 days, while the total number of Yatris including those registered online have crossed 1.25 lakh mark.