At marathon 6-hour meeting, Amit Shah pushes for Kashmir-like ‘zero terror plan’ in Jammu

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi to assess the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir after a series of terror attacks.

The marathon meeting, which lasted six hours, saw the home minister directing security agencies to replicate the successful ‘area domination plan’ and ‘zero terror plan’, previously implemented in the Kashmir Valley, in the Jammu division.

The home minister was given a comprehensive briefing on the prevailing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah directed all security agencies to work in a mission mode and ensure quick response in a coordinated manner. He said the recent incidents show that terrorism has been forced to shrink from highly organised acts of terrorist violence to a mere proxy war.

The security forces are expected to intensify counter-terror operations in the region in the coming days, reported PTI quoting people familiar with the matter.

The high-profile meeting chaired by Shah was attended by 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, DG of BSF Nitin Agarwal, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police R R Swain, and other top security officials.

The meeting took place at North Block, just three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a similar high-level discussion. The prime minister had instructed officials to deploy the “full spectrum of counter-terror capabilities” following a series of terror incidents, including a deadly attack on a bus carrying pilgrims.

Terrorists struck at four locations in Reasi, Kathua, and Doda districts within the span of four days last week, resulting in the deaths of nine pilgrims and a CRPF jawan, and injuring seven security personnel and several civilians. In Kathua district, two suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces.

On June 9, terrorists opened fire on a 53-seater bus carrying pilgrims en route to Katra from the Shiv Khori temple. The bus, transporting pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi, plunged into a deep gorge following the gunfire, killing nine people and injuring 41 others.

Subsequent attacks included an incident on June 11, where terrorists fired at a joint checkpost of the Rashtriya Rifles and police at Chattergalla in Bhaderwah, and an attack on a search party in Gandoh area of Doda district on June 12, which injured seven security personnel, including a policeman.

These attacks have occurred just ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine, located at 3,880 meters in the south Kashmir Himalayas, set to commence on June 29 and continue until August 19. This year, all Amarnath pilgrims will be issued RFID cards for real-time tracking, along with an insurance cover of ₹5 lakh for each pilgrim and ₹50,000 for each animal carrying the pilgrims.