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| Antony arriving in J&K as infiltration, violence ups | | | Early Times report
Jammu, April 24: As infiltration refuses to ebb and militant violence bounces back, the Defence Minister AK Antony is arriving Monday to review security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir.
Defence Ministry sources said Antony, accompanied by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Army chief General Deepak Kapoor, would go to the forward areas to meet and interact with soldiers guarding the LoC.
The Defence Minister's visit to the border state comes in the wake of intelligence reports that over 400 militants were ready across the LoC to infiltrate into the state to cause violence during the Lok Sabha polls and target political leaders touring the state.
Already, the Army deployed in counter-insurgency operations in the state have had encounters with militants on at least three occasions in the last one month in Hafrauda forests in Kupwara and in Gurez.
The security forces have killed over 50 terrorists in the state since January this year, 22 among them in the three encounters. The Army lost around 10 personnel during this period, the sources added.
The Centre is concerned over the spurt in infiltration across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir especially with elections round the corner and is beefing up security in the state.
Of particular concern is the fact that the infiltration has occurred a few months ahead of the period which normally sees an increase in infiltration when the snow at the higher passes melts in June.
Sources said the Army had recently come under criticism from various security agencies with the charge that it was not maintaining a tight vigil along the Line of Control.
Though the Union Home Ministry is trying to keep the actual number of infiltrating militants under wraps and has only admitted to a small number of 50 terrorists having sneaked in, sources in the state government as well as central ministry said the number could be quite high.
An analysis of the infiltration incidents showed that the terrorists chose a two-pronged modus operandi -- coming in large numbers and crossing over the higher passes of Kupwara and Gurez in Kashmir division and Rajouri in Jammu at a time when the army presence is less or not there at all, they said.
The Army headquarters and Col J S Brar, spokesman of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, refused to comment on the issue.
Though the army maintains that the posts at higher peaks in Kashmir are not vacated during the harsh months, during meetings with state government officials, which were attended by senior bureaucrats from Centre, the Army said troop presence was lowered during winter months.
At a recent high-level meeting, the Army officials said that troops increased their strength in higher reaches of Kupwara and Gurez sector in May as the previous trends showed that militants came only in June first week.
Against the backdrop of Army's claims of vigilance, three terrorists were nabbed recently at various places in Kupwara and Gurez in North Kashmir. The captured terrorists claimed they met with no resistance from troops while sneaking in, the sources said.
During the meeting the Army was handed over both Human Intelligence (HUMINT) as well as Technical Intelligence (TECHINT) showing large number of infiltration.
Army officials claimed they had conducted regular recce by helicopters from the beginning of March to keep an eye on infiltration. But security agencies are believed to have countered by saying it is difficult to spot infiltrators who had camouflaged themselves with Parka jackets (white) and Balaclava caps, the sources said.
The first infiltration bid took place on March 20 from Tangdhar in which a group of 25 terrorists had entered.
In the second bid, 20 terrorists infiltrated from Gurez between March 26 to March 28 and another group of 70 militants came in again from Gurez.
The sources said a militant of Pakistani origin who had been detained told his interrogators that a group of 100 terrorists belonging to various terror outfits had managed to reach Gurez, out of whom 40 porters returned after dumping the arms and ammunition.
The terrorists are from Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Moahmmed.
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