5,000 securitymen deployed at J&K border ahead of BJP yatra

With BJP showing no signs of going back on its plan to hoist the national flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on January 26, nearly 5,000 security personnel have been deployed at the border of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, which has been sealed, to prevent activists of the party's youth wing from entering the state.

"Nearly 5,000 security personnel of CRPF and police have been deployed all along the Punjab-J and K border and it has been fully sealed ahead of the arrival of Rastriya Ekta Yatra at Lakhanpur inter-border terminal in Kathua district," a senior police official told Press Trust of India.

At the seven entry points from Punjab to Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, police and CRPF personnel have been deployed and a massive security drill was conducted this morning. Besides, two women platoons have also been deployed keeping in view presence of women activists, he said.

"Riot control vehicles, water cannons and deployment of companies of CRPF and police has been done on all entry points from Punjab into J&K," the official said, adding that security personnel have also been deployed in Jammu.

Official sources said all check-points, including the seven additional ones that have been set up, have been put on high alert for round-the-clock vigilance on the highway to ensure the Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists do not enter the state.

Jammu and Kashmir government has named Gareeb Dass, DIG Crime, Intelligence and Vigilance, as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for security in the Samba-Kathua range.

"We will not allow peace in Jammu and Kashmir to be disturbed. The state government has already directed the security agencies to ensure that there is no trouble in the state by hoisting of the tricolour in Srinagar by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha," a senior official said.

Sources said police and civil officers of Jammu and Kashmir districts held a meeting with their counterparts at Pathankote in Punjab to seek their help to thwart the activists' attempts of entering the state from Punjab but the officers refused to help.

The ruling National Conference today accused BJP of attempting to ruin peace and normalcy in Kashmir and said its government will not allow the party's youth wing to carry out its plan of hoisting the national flag in Srinagar.

"BJP is trying to spoil peace and normalcy in Kashmir. We will not allow the BJP to hoist the national flag in Srinagar, as that is not in the interest of Jammu and Kashmir," Senior NC leader and J&K Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar told reporters in Jammu.