The Jammu & Srinagar National Highway came under terrorist attack recently, and it said a lot about security lapses in the area.

According to the preliminary interrogation reports of driver and his accomplice arrested by the State police from Jhajjar Kotli on Wednesday, over 20 infiltrators have been ferried by them since January 2018 at different intervals.

These sensational disclosures has already left all those senior security officers, entrusted with the job of securing national highway, red faced.

Even huge presence of security forces at different locations, random patrolling by the Quick reaction teams (QRT’s) of the Indian army, CRPF and random checking of vehicles at security checkpoints set up by the State police could not detect presence of heavily armed terrorists in the truck, frequently used by the over ground workers of Jaish-e- Mohammed terrorist outfit to ferry them to Kashmir valley in the recent months.

According to police the arrested driver and his accomplice has been identified as Riaz Ahmad son of Ghulam Ahmad R/o Hajin, Pulwama and Mohammad Iqbal son of Abdul Khaliq R/o Pakharpora, Budgam, a BSc Nursing student. Brother of Riaz was also a terrorist and had been killed in an encounter with the security forces. Official sources revealed they were both working as OGW’s of Jaish-e- Mohammed terrorist outfit.

The duo,seems to have ran out of their luck on Wednesday when they stopped  at one of their favorite eating joints near Jhajjar Kotli for a sumptuous breakfast.

The duo  had no idea that a flying squad of a highway patrol party could chase them and take the lid off their secret operation.

Three member fidayeen group, hiding inside the truck, also acted in haste by opening fire on the police party and exposed themselves.They were neutralised on Thursday during the day long operation in Kakriyal area along the national highway.

Top brass of the State police has already taken note of the serious security breach.

Director General of state Police Dilbagh Singh is most likely to chair a separate review meeting of senior police officers to further review and beef up security  of the National Highway to prevent repeat of such episodes.

Briefing media persons at the encounter site  in Kakriyal on Thursday General Officer Commanding (GOC), Uniform Force Major General Arvind Bhatia had also told reporters,”these terrorists possibly infiltrated from the Samba sector and were heading towards Kashmir valley to carry out some major strike with the help of their handlers and vast network of over ground workers”.

Quoting preliminary police investigation in the case  Major General Bhatia had also claimed, “the driver and co-driver arrested by the state police  on Wednesday were engaged in the specific job of transporting infiltrating terrorists from Jammu to Srinagar using this mode of transport”. “Police reports suggested  over 20 terrorists have been transported by them in this manner only this year”, he added.

According to these reports the duo had travelled from Kashmir on September 9 to ferry these terrorists to the Valley. They waited in Jammu for a signal to pick them from the border belt of Samba district. The state police is still investigating this claim to establish the fact that these terrorists had recently infiltrated from across the International border to carry out terror attacks in Kashmir valley.

Writer: Mohit Kandhari

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The Jammu & Srinagar National Highway came under terrorist attack recently, and it said a lot about security lapses in the area.

According to the preliminary interrogation reports of driver and his accomplice arrested by the State police from Jhajjar Kotli on Wednesday, over 20 infiltrators have been ferried by them since January 2018 at different intervals.

These sensational disclosures has already left all those senior security officers, entrusted with the job of securing national highway, red faced.

Even huge presence of security forces at different locations, random patrolling by the Quick reaction teams (QRT’s) of the Indian army, CRPF and random checking of vehicles at security checkpoints set up by the State police could not detect presence of heavily armed terrorists in the truck, frequently used by the over ground workers of Jaish-e- Mohammed terrorist outfit to ferry them to Kashmir valley in the recent months.

According to police the arrested driver and his accomplice has been identified as Riaz Ahmad son of Ghulam Ahmad R/o Hajin, Pulwama and Mohammad Iqbal son of Abdul Khaliq R/o Pakharpora, Budgam, a BSc Nursing student. Brother of Riaz was also a terrorist and had been killed in an encounter with the security forces. Official sources revealed they were both working as OGW’s of Jaish-e- Mohammed terrorist outfit.

The duo,seems to have ran out of their luck on Wednesday when they stopped  at one of their favorite eating joints near Jhajjar Kotli for a sumptuous breakfast.

The duo  had no idea that a flying squad of a highway patrol party could chase them and take the lid off their secret operation.

Three member fidayeen group, hiding inside the truck, also acted in haste by opening fire on the police party and exposed themselves.They were neutralised on Thursday during the day long operation in Kakriyal area along the national highway.

Top brass of the State police has already taken note of the serious security breach.

Director General of state Police Dilbagh Singh is most likely to chair a separate review meeting of senior police officers to further review and beef up security  of the National Highway to prevent repeat of such episodes.

Briefing media persons at the encounter site  in Kakriyal on Thursday General Officer Commanding (GOC), Uniform Force Major General Arvind Bhatia had also told reporters,”these terrorists possibly infiltrated from the Samba sector and were heading towards Kashmir valley to carry out some major strike with the help of their handlers and vast network of over ground workers”.

Quoting preliminary police investigation in the case  Major General Bhatia had also claimed, “the driver and co-driver arrested by the state police  on Wednesday were engaged in the specific job of transporting infiltrating terrorists from Jammu to Srinagar using this mode of transport”. “Police reports suggested  over 20 terrorists have been transported by them in this manner only this year”, he added.

According to these reports the duo had travelled from Kashmir on September 9 to ferry these terrorists to the Valley. They waited in Jammu for a signal to pick them from the border belt of Samba district. The state police is still investigating this claim to establish the fact that these terrorists had recently infiltrated from across the International border to carry out terror attacks in Kashmir valley.

Writer: Mohit Kandhari

Courtesy: The Pioneer