10 Companies Also Being Sent To Jammu To Strengthen Security Grid
Srinagar- Ahead of the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra, additional 85 CRPF companies are being inducted into Jammu and Kashmir for ensuring safety to the pilgrims, official sources said on Saturday.
The 62-day long annual pilgrimage is commencing from July 1 and the 85 companies including six woman coys are mostly being inducted in the Valley, they said.
A paramilitary CRPF official said that 75 of the coys, each comprising about 135 personnel, are being deployed in south Kashmir, central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and in Bandipora district of north Kashmir. Ten companies are being deployed in Jammu, the official said.
Other than sanitising the areas lying in south Kashmir and Baltal route in central Kashmir, the official said, the paramilitary personnel will be deployed for Road Opening Parties (ROPs) on the highway in the Valley.
The official said that additional companies are being inducted exclusively for the yatra duty. As per officials, around nine lakh pilgrims are expected to perform the annual yatra this year and as such “more troops would be required for their safety”. Asked if more companies will be rushed, the officials said, “There is no such information as of now.”
CCTV Cameras Being Installed In Lakhanpur
Meanwhile Jammu and Kashmir Police has begun installing CCTV cameras at Lakhanpur, the entry point of the Kathua district, as part of security measures for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra, officials said.
They also asked owners of shops and business establishments along the Kathua-Jammu highway to focus their CCTV cameras towards the road as part of the security measure, they said.
The annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir is scheduled to start on July 1 and continue till August 31. The journey can be undertaken through two routes — the traditional 48-km route through Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.
“Installation of CCTV cameras has started in Lakhanpur area of Kathua district and will be completed in two days,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kathua Shivdeep Singh Jamwal said.
Officials said security has been beefed up at Lakhanpur and checkpoints have been set up there to segregate routine vehicles and Amarnath Yatra vehicles entering Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)
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