Jammu: Around 400 terrorists are currently in launching pads across the Line of Control (LoC). They are waiting to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir during the winters. Their wait has been been prolonged after a tight anti-infiltration grid frustrated attempts by Pakistan to push them into the Indian side. A top police official said Wednesday that Pakistan is trying to infiltrate terrorists along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. This move comes even though most areas being covered by heavy snow.
There have been reports of infiltration by 44 terrorists in 2020 as compared to 141 in 2019, they said. In 2018, 143 terrorists manage to infiltrate into J-K.
Pakistan has been rattled by the success of India’s anti-infiltration grid with the blocking of several key routes. So the Pakistan Army carried out 5,100 ceasefire violations in 2020. It is the highest since the 2003 truce came into effect. The country attempted to push in more terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir under the cover of mortar shelling and firing, the officials said.
“There are 300 to 415 terrorists in various launching pads in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (PoK) along the LoC. They are ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to disturb peace and normalcy by engineering violence,” an official informed.
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While 175-210 terrorists are in launch pads along the LoC on the other side of the north of Pir Panjal (Kashmir valley), there are 119-216 terrorists opposite to the LoC area south of Pir Panjal (Jammu region), they said.
“Pakistani agencies are using tunnels to push in armed terrorists, weapons, ammunition and explosive material in J-K. They are also using drones to ferry and drop weapons and explosive material into border areas in Jammu and Kashmir along with narcotics to finance terrorism,” said officials.
“In December last year, terrorists infiltrated into Poonch despite heavy snowfall but were neutralized,” added an official.
A group of four JeM terrorists entered Samba via a tunnel and were neutralised after a truck carrying them to Kashmir was intercepted on the highway at Nagrota in Jammu in November last year, informed security officials.
Security agencies have identified over 20 entry routes along the Indo-Pak border in J-K. They have put in place multi-tier security to thwart any attempt by Pakistan to infiltrate armed terrorists.
Apart from the first-tier of security of the Army and the BSF, village defence committees (VDCs) along the LoC and the international border (IB) have been activated, police checkpoints have come up and patrolling done in the hinterland around the border, they said.
“All police stations and police posts have also been alerted to keep a tab on suspected movement in the border areas apart from activation of VDCs in border belts,” informed another official.