In response to a series of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi, focusing on enhancing security measures in the region. The marathon session, lasting six hours, saw Shah directing security agencies to implement the successful ‘area domination plan’ and ‘zero terror plan’ from the Kashmir Valley into the Jammu division.
The home minister received a comprehensive briefing on the current security landscape in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah emphasized the need for all security agencies to operate in a mission mode and ensure a quick, coordinated response to any incidents. “Recent incidents show that terrorism has been forced to shrink from highly organized acts of terrorist violence to a mere proxy war,” he stated, underlining the shift in the nature of terror threats.
According to PTI, the security forces are expected to intensify counter-terror operations in the region in the coming days, following Shah’s directives.
The high-profile meeting was attended by key officials, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Army Chief-designate Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, Director General of CRPF Anish Dayal Singh, DG of BSF Nitin Agarwal, and Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police R R Swain, among others.
The meeting, held at North Block, followed a similar high-level discussion chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi three days earlier. The prime minister had instructed officials to deploy the “full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities” after a series of terror incidents, including a deadly attack on a bus carrying pilgrims.
In recent attacks, terrorists struck four locations in Reasi, Kathua, and Doda districts over four days last week, resulting in the deaths of nine pilgrims and a CRPF jawan, with several security personnel and civilians injured. Notably, two suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed in an encounter in Kathua district.
On June 9, terrorists opened fire on a 53-seater bus carrying pilgrims en route to Katra from the Shiv Khori temple, causing the bus to plunge into a deep gorge. The attack killed nine people and injured 41 others. Subsequent attacks on June 11 targeted a joint checkpost of the Rashtriya Rifles and police at Chattergalla in Bhaderwah, while on June 12, an attack on a search party in Gandoh area of Doda district injured seven security personnel.
These attacks come just ahead of the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, set to commence on June 29 and continue until August 19. This year, Amarnath pilgrims will be issued RFID cards for real-time tracking, along with an insurance cover of ₹5 lakh for each pilgrim and ₹50,000 for each animal carrying the pilgrims.