The country was Thursday put on high alert in the wake of intelligence inputs that terrorists may strike in retaliation to the Army’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control
The country was Thursday put on high alert in the wake of intelligence inputs that terrorists may strike in retaliation to the Army’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LOC) in PoK. After Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the chief ministers of bordering states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, the Army and local administration evacuated civilians within 10 kms of the border areas. All the schools in the border areas of Punjab have been closed till further orders. The ceremonial beating retreat ceremony at Attari border, too, was closed for the public.
In Punjab, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal put the entire government machinery in an emergency mode. He directed the chief secretary and the director-general of police to ask the concerned deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police to oversee the entire evacuation process in the border districts of Ferozepur, Fazilka, Amritsar, Taran Tarn, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. He also directed the deputy commissioners to identify suitable locations for setting up camps and ensure that none of the residents being evacuated were put to any sort of inconvenience or hardship.
In J&K, the Army started evacuating people living in the adjoining areas of LoC in anticipation of possible retaliation by Pakistani troops. The Army first initiated the process in Naushera district.
Elsewhere in the country, security was beefed up at railway stations, Metros, bus depots, airports, seaports, hospitals and places having high foot-fall like malls, multiplexes, shopping plazas and busy marketplaces.
The police personnel across all Metros and two-tier cities reportedly told market associations to keep their CCTVs in place to record movements of people in their respective jurisdiction.
A highly placed source said that intelligence units of different states were instructed to remain in close coordination and make sure that information related to any possible terror strike was immediately shared with the local police.
Specialised units like quick reaction teams, bomb disposal units and dog squads have been directed to sanitise sensitive points in their respective states. A no-fly zone has also been put in place besides patrolling of the skies by helicopters, a senior officer said, adding, “To neutralise any air-borne strike, various agencies and an air defence mechanism will also keep watch to thwart any threat.”
A multi-layered security cover was thrown over the national capital with over 50,000 security personnel deployed across the city to keep a hawk-eyed vigil against any possible terror strike. Over 15,000 of these personnel, drawn from paramilitary forces and the Delhi Police, were deployed in high security areas.
