Chairs high level security review meeting in Jammu; LG Sinha, Army Chief, Union Home Secretary, others attend; Calls for choking supply lines of terrorists; lauds security agencies for maintaining peace in J&K; Meets family members of martyrs, hands over appointment letters to NOKs; To chair development review meeting tomorrow, discuss future plans for UT
Jammu: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday directed the security top brass to ensure “zero infiltration” from across the border and eliminate Pakistani terrorists holed up in the upper reaches of the Jammu region.
According to the details available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) soon after returning from Hiranagar, the Home Minister chaired a high level security review meeting at Lok Bhavan here. The meeting was attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, J&K Chief Secretary Atal Duloo, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, J&K Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, General Officer Commanding Jammu-based White Knight Corps Lt Gen P K Mishra, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Praveen Kumar, Central Reserve Police Force DG G P Singh, and other senior military, police, civil and intelligence officers.
Notably, the meeting assumed significance amid stepped up anti-terror operations following nearly a dozen encounters in Kathua, Udhampur and Kishtwar districts of Jammu region over the past two weeks. In these gun battles four Pakistani terrorists were killed.
Sources told KNO that during the meeting the Home Minister reviewed the ongoing anti-terrorist operations, the anti-infiltration grid and the measures being taken to counter drone activities from across the border, amid intelligence reports suggesting the presence of terrorists waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate into India. “Security forces should ensure that there is zero infiltration from across the border,” sources quoted the Home Minister as having said.
The Home Minister, they said, directed the top officers of the security forces to “choke the supply lines” of the terrorists hiding in the upper reaches of the Jammu region and intensify anti-terror operations.
Shah reiterated that all resources will be made available to achieve the goal of “terror-free” Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest.
The Home Minister lauded the security agencies for acting tough against the terrorists, their supporters, and maintaining peace and tranquillity in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pertinently, this was the second security review meeting chaired by the Union home minister within a month. On January 8, Shah chaired a high-level review meeting on Jammu and Kashmir security in Delhi, and directed continuation of counter-terror operations targeting terror infrastructure and financing in “mission mode”.
Earlier, the home secretary had also chaired a review meeting here during his two-day visit on January 14 and 15.
After the security review meeting ended, the Home Minister interacted with the families of the martyrs and handed over the appointment letters to the NOKs of the martyrs, sources added.
HM SHAH TO CHAIR DEVELOPMENT REVIEW MEETING TOMORROW
The Home Minister will chair a meeting on the development of Jammu and Kashmir at 10:30 AM on Saturday at Lok Bhavan, Jammu, to review progress on key development initiatives and future plans for the Union Territory. The meeting will be attended by LG Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Chief Secretary Atal Duloo and other senior functionaries. He will leave for New Delhi on Saturday afternoon—(KNO)
