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| Night before R-Day tense; borders sealed, bus services to remote hilly areas cancelled | | | Bharat Bhushan
JAMMU, Jan 25: While the night before Republic Day was as usual tense here, with borders sealed and entry points to the state's winter capital plugged, the city surprisingly did not resemble a fortress as it used to be on this day every year. As a result of this, normal life ran smoothly.
It was for the first time in the past 17 years that the day before Republic Day was like any other day in the city. Motorists enjoyed a fear-free, hassle-free drive all day. The absence of special nakas during the day time also came to them as a surprise. Some hoped that it could be the beginning of the good days ahead in the hitherto troubled state.
Security has remained extraordinarily tightened in the state on the eve of Republic Day since the January 26, 1995, serial blasts at M A stadium -- the main venue of function in the state.
Today, however, the situation was altogether different. But after shops were closed at night and people moved homes, elaborate security arrangements were put in place to ensure incident-free celebrations Thursday.
Police personnel put a multi-layer security ring across the city after midnight, plugging all its entry points. The borders were sealed too to stop Pakistan from infiltrating militants.
Barricades were set up at the entry points to keep a vigil on all those entering the city and M A stadium was made out of bounds for people to keep away "saboteurs" of peace.
"Elaborate air defence measures, including deployment of anti-aircraft guns, were also taken to check intrusion of air space," a senior police officer said.
A special emphasis was this time given on anti-sabotage checks and intelligence coordination, he added.
The officer said M A stadium was covered by special security and anti-terror arrangements. A massive ground-to-air security apparatus had also been put in place for the function, he informed.
Mobile police teams and sharpshooters were also deployed in the city.
The officer said police and security agencies were put on high alert in Jammu, following intelligence inputs that saboteurs could choose the city for a strike on R-Day eve.
No vehicle was being allowed to enter the city unchecked. Surprise police check points were laid on the Nikki Tawi river bed close to the stadium, in border villages and on the known infiltration routes from Paharpur in Kathua to Poonch, the officer added.
Cops were also deployed on the Manda hills, overlooking the Hari Singh Palace-Nagrota road and the Radio Station-Nagrota road stretch.
In the city, snipers had taken positions at the high-rise buildings around the stadium to
keep an eye on the subversive elements. CCTVs were also keeping a tight vigil on people's movement between Manda and the stadium.
It would be an undeclared curfew here tomorrow as business establishments would remain closed till the Republic Day function comes to an end in the afternoon.
The security was also strengthened around the famous Raghunath Temple, Ranbireshwar Temple and some other religious places, besides vital police and army installations.
Sources said it would be an untiring vigil for police and security personnel tonight with senior police officers monitoring the situation to thwart any terror attack.
All the garbage dumps in the city and on the peripheral areas were also removed so that militants did not hide bombs in them. Few years back, a bomb had exploded on Republic Day in a garbage dump close to the NC office here.
On the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC), troops were maintaining round-the-clock vigil to foil any infiltration bid.
The officer said the Pak-based militants were expected to make every possible effort to sneak into the Indian territory tonight to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations.
Apart from patrolling along the borders, the troops had laid multiple ambushes in the border villages. The border residents had also been asked to remain vigilant and contact police or security forces in case they spotted an outsider in their area.
The officer said all passenger bus services from major towns to remote villages in the mountain-locked districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Poonch and Rajouri were cancelled to avoid any untoward incident.
All the district SSPs had been directed to personally monitor nakas and ambush points tonight.
The officer said additional police and security personnel had been deployed in minority pockets in the region.
The security was also enhanced at the railway station here and along the railway track, he added.
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