Anantnag: Security personnel keep vigil at the site of the yesterday’s militant attack on Amarnath Yatris in which seven pilgrims were killed and 19 others injured, at Batango in Anantnag district of South Kashmir on Tuesday. PTI
A central ministerial team that visited Srinagar on Tuesday after the militant attack on Amarnath pilgrims has instructed deploying of road opening party till 10 pm, stationing security pickets on arterial roads to the Jammu-Srinagar highway and bringing unregistered buses carrying pilgrims into the security cordon. During the review, the state government and security agencies also made an elaborate presentation on the possible lapses and informed that the bus’s occupants stayed for more than a day in Srinagar.
During their visits to markets, they seem to have come under the notice of some overground workers of militant groups who may have passed on the information, a senior government official, who was part of the team, told The Indian Express.
The road opening party meant to secure the roads earlier used to be present till 6.30 pm. “We have asked them to remain on the ground till 10 pm. To check the vehicles plying towards the Jammu-Srinagar highway, we have asked the police to put up barricades and deploy security personnel on arterial roads joining the highway. This presence of police pickets will not only help regulate the traffic but also act as a deterrent against militants,” a senior home ministry official added.
The Home ministry in a statement said the “highest alert” has been sounded across J&K. According to an assessment carried out by central agencies, Lashkar-e-Toiba is suspected to have carried out the attack. However, more corroboration is required before the government can name the group, sources said.
