Union Home Minister Amit Shah calls for Kashmir-like ‘Zero Terror Plan’ in Jammu after attacks

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting in Delhi, on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, in the wake of the recent terror attacks there.

During the meeting, Shah directed stringent action against terrorism supporters in Jammu and called for comprehensive security arrangements for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.

The Home Minister also emphasised the need for robust security cover for the pilgrimage and urged officials to ensure the safety of all routes and key locations, sources told India Today TV.

They said that Shah instructed the top security officials to deliver a “strong response” to emerging terrorism in the Jammu region and to prevent its resurgence at any cost.

He also directed the security agencies to replicate the successes achieved in the Kashmir Valley through the Area Domination Plan and Zero Terror Plan in Jammu.

The Home Minister also called for coordinated efforts to safeguard all pilgrimage sites, including Vaishno Devi and Shivkhori.

Shah directed that additional security forces be deployed along the highways and that human intelligence be leveraged to track active terrorists and their supporters in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also asked for the closure of all infiltration points in the Valley used by foreign terrorists. The meeting highlighted the necessity of a multi-layered security cover for the Amarnath Yatra, scheduled to start on June 29 and end on August 19.

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, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police RR Swain and other top security officials were present during the high-level meeting.

Shah presided over the high-level meeting here at North Block, three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a similar meeting where he directed officials to deploy the “full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities” after a spate of terror incidents, including an attack on a bus carrying pilgrims.

During the past week, terrorists struck four places in Reasi, Kathua and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir, killing nine pilgrims and a CRPF jawan and leaving seven security personnel and several others injured.

Two suspected Pakistani terrorists were also killed in an encounter with security forces in Kathua district and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

The incidents come ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas.

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