New Delhi: The Amarnath Yatra beginning on June 28 is once against under the radar of terrorists. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Thursday issued a terror alert for Amarnath Yatra and advised forces to be extra vigilant.
In the last one month, seven terrorists were intercepted and killed in Anantnag but the sources admitted that some of the terrorists have got through and may have merged with the local population.
However, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on June 20 had said there was no increased threat perception to this year's Amarnath yatra compared to previous years and fears of attack as reported in the media were "gross exaggeration".
Meanwhile, the first batch of over 3,000 pilgrims on Thursday left for the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas amidst tight security from Jammu. The batch comprising of 3,157 yatris, including 563 women and 37 children, was flagged off by state Tourism Minister GA Mir at Jammu base camp.
The batch left from Yatri Niwas in a fleet of 96 vehicles, including 75 buses and 21 LMVs at around 5:45 AM on Thursday amid tight security and in the presence of several civil and police officials. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) only 15,000 yatris will be allowed to move towards the Amarnath cave shrine everyday - 7,500 from Phelgam and an equal number from Baltal. Keeping in view the huge influx of unregistered devotees visiting the state, civil administration has set-up spot registration counters at different places.
With Additional Inputs From PTI
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