Srinagar, June 25 :Days ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, the Army said on Saturday that the threats to the annual pilgrimage is more this year compared to earlier times.
A senior Army officer said more security personnel have been deployed to ensure a smooth pilgrimage this time.
“There is an increased threat perception this year. We generally receive inputs about terrorists targeting the Yatra every year, but this year there are more such inputs,” the officer said.
The Amarnath Yatra will be conducted physically after a gap of two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The authorities are hopeful that this year’s pilgrimage will be much bigger and that six to eight lakh people were expected to perform the annual trek.
“The number of security forces personnel deployed is three or four times more than the previous years,” he said.
The officer, however, asserted that they cannot say that they have made security 100 percent foolproof.
The 43-day-long pilgrimage is scheduled to start on June 30.
A three-tier security is in place to ensure a safe Yatra from Jammu to the cave shrine. Apart from men, there will be security drones, CCTV cameras and Radio Frequency Identification tags.
This month, 29 militants have been killed across Kashmir and police have claimed that two among them had planned to target the Yatra. A shadowy militant outfit has purportedly issued a threat to the event.
