After Terror Alert, J&K Govt Asks Amarnath Yatris to Leave Valley

Reports suggested that 28,000 additional troops are in the process of deployment in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmir remained on the edge on Friday, 2 August, as a fresh order by the J&K government asking tourists and Amarnath yatris to "curtail their stay” in the Valley, triggered panic among the residents.

Apprehending deterioration in the law and order situation, people were seen lining up at departmental stores in Srinagar and elsewhere to stock up dry ration and essentials. Petrol pumps also witnessed a huge rush of customers, news agency PTI reported.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Army and police held a joint press briefing about intelligence inputs that there were attempts by Pakistan to disrupt/target the Amarnath yatra.

The press briefing came amid reports that 280 companies of security forces were in the process of being deployed in the Kashmir Valley.

Here are the key highlights from the joint press conference:

• Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, the Commander of the 15 Corps, said the forces have found a huge cache of arms along the Amarnath Yatra route, which included a US M-24 sniper rifle and a mine with markings of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory. Searches were launched along the pilgrimage route after specific intelligence that Pakistan-based terrorists might target the Yatra using IEDs and attack pilgrims, he added.

• Lt Gen Dhillon said the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Jammu and Kashmir is more "pronounced" in the hinterland even as the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) remains "largely peaceful".
• Regular infiltration attempts are being made by Pakistan-based terrorists but the Army is thwarting their bids at the LoC, Dhillon said.
• J&K DGP Dilbag Singh said that additional troops have been deployed because there is a lack of relaxation time for troops and an increase in violence by terrorists. He added that numbers circulating in social media about additional forces sent to Kashmir were exaggerated.
• Singh added that there were "fresh inputs of increase in violence by terrorists" which made it necessary to "strengthen the counter intelligence grid" on the ground.
• IG Kashmir, SP Pani, said, “More than 10 serious attempts to trigger IED blasts were made in the Valley, mostly in Pulwama and Shopian areas.”
• The Army also said that 83 percent of terrorists have a history of stone-pelting.

(With inputs from PTI)