Anantnag, 29 April: Following a deadly attack on an army vehicle in Poonch's Bhata-Durian area on April 21 that killed five soldiers, security officials huddled Saturday in Anantnag's Southern district to devise a counter strategy to foil vehicle-borne IED and sticky bomb threats. Convoy movement was improved during the meeting, and a “new plan for national highway security was devised.”
The meeting was presided over by ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, and top officials from the army, CRPF, BSF, SSB, and other security agencies were present. According to officials, the meeting discussed the vehicle-borne IED threat as well as other potential militant threats such as sticky bombs.
“All of the officers/officials made recommendations on how to counter vehicle-based IED and sticky bomb threats.” Other potential militant threats were also discussed, and a joint strategy was devised to foil all militant bids,” the official said, declining to be quoted. He stated that many officials admitted during the meeting that vehicle-borne IEDs and sticky bombs were a challenge. According to the official, a collaborative strategy was required to effectively counter both emerging threats.
According to a meeting source, the meeting came to the conclusion that security on national highways needs to be prioritised. “Night patrolling and area dominance on highways will be increased immediately,” he said.
Army GoC Victor Force Maj General Prashant Srivastava, IG CRPF Kashmir Ops Sector M S Bhatia, IG BSF Ashok Yadav, Joint Director IB, Army sector commanders in South Kashmir, DIGs of police, CRPF, SSB, ITBP & CID, and SSPs of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Awantipora were present at the meeting.
According to a police spokesman, potential threats from militants on national highways were discussed in detail during the meeting, and additional countermeasures were decided. “The convoy movement Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) was also discussed and upgraded accordingly.” Each field officer provided their assessment. “The ADGP Kashmir has directed all SSPs to focus on anti-militant operations, including the dismantling of militant modules and the arrest of terrorist associates,” the spokesman said.
He stated that they were specifically tasked with generating preventive intelligence and sharing it with all stakeholders on a timely basis. “GoC Victor force asked sector commanders to do extensive area domination at night as well,” said the spokesman.
