Army chief in Kashmir, ops intensified with search on for 7 LeT terrorists
He will be meeting with the operational commanders on the field and review the inputs that have come in and the ongoing operation.
Defence sources told ThePrint that the first place the Army chief is visiting is the headquarters of the Victor Force in Awantipora, a Division of the Army in-charge of operations in South Kashmir.
New Delhi: Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi reached Srinagar Friday to take a full security review of the situation and the ongoing operation by the security forces to track down seven LeT terrorists believed to have been behind the Pahalgam terror attack, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources said that according to inputs received so far, it was a group of seven terrorists that carried out the attack, which included at least four Pakistani terrorists and three local terrorists.
As reported by ThePrint, four terrorists, including two Pakistani nationals, carried out the actually killings. It is now learnt that three other terrorists were positioned in the higher reaches on look out.
Sources said that two Sectors (Brigade level formation) of the Rashtriya Rifles have been put on the job to track down the group of terrorists besides those from the Special Forces.
On Friday Pakistan Army fired small arms at some places along the Line of Control (LoC), prompting an effective retaliation from the Indian Army. No casualties have been reported so far. Further details are awaited.
Sources said that the Army chief would be briefed on the status of operations and the security net that is being thrown.
According to them, the Army is for offensive operations and the overall security arrangements is the responsibility of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF which operates under it.
Gen Dwivedi will also visit the headquarters of the Chinar Corps in Srinagar where he will meet with the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Suchendra Kumar and 15 corps Commander Lt Gen Prashant Srivastava.
At this meeting, a larger security review is to be undertaken and certain plans and changes will be discussed, the sources said.
At the All Party Meeting held Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah admitted to lapses in the security apparatus.
Shah informed the meeting that local tour operators had opened up the route without informing the administration.
'The government told us that the route usually opens in June during the Amarnath Yatra as pilgrims headed to the holy site take rest at this location. However, this time, local tour operators started accepting bookings for tourists interested in going to the spot in April itself. From 20 April, tourists started going there. The local authorities were not aware of this development and, as a result, there was virtually no security deployment there,' Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told ThePrint.
However, a Jammu and Kashmir Police post is located at the start of the route to the meadows, leading sources to question the claims of unawareness.
'It is sad that Jammu and Kashmir Police claim that they are not aware. Kashmir is a terror zone and police are saying they were unaware that hundreds of tourists were going to a particular zone,' a source said.
The J&K Police have released details about three of the four LeT terrorists.
On Thursday, J&K Police confirmed that one of the four terrorists involved in the Pahalgam massacre is Adil Hussain Thoker, as ThePrint reported the previous day. Thoker is a resident of Anantnag.
The other two terrorists identified by police are Ali Bhai alias Talha Bhai and Hashim Musa alias Suleman—both referred to as 'Pak national LeT' terrorists.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Pakistan issues NOTAM for Arabian Sea, puts its military on alert after India's first reaction to Pahalgam
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