Security increased in J&K for PM`s visit after militant attack

Srinagar: Leaving nothing to chance after a militant attack in the heart of the city, police and CRPF have been put on high alert for the two-day visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Jammu and Kashmir beginning Tuesday. Police and CRPF personnel have set up check points at key places and are carrying out random search of vehicles, particularly motorcycles, entering the city.

This was being done as part of heightened security drill for the VVIP visit, a senior state police official said. The decision to beef up security arrangements in the city came in the aftermath of the shooting incident in Hari Singh High Street area here yesterday. Two policemen were killed while a teenage girl suffered injuries in the attack. "Area dominance and sanitisation operations are in progress in many areas of the city to ensure that the high profile visit passes off peacefully," the official said. Senior officials of the police and other security forces are regularly monitoring footage from various CCTV cameras installed across the city. As part of the security drill, a team of officers from the Special Protection Group visited the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of Dal Lake where Singh is scheduled to interact with various delegations on June 25. Singh is scheduled to visit Banihal town on Jammu- Srinagar National Highway to inaugurate the Qazigund-Banihal link of the prestigious Kashmir rail project. The Qazigund-Banihal section, which includes a 11-km-long tunnel, will reduce the distance from 35 km (by road) to 18 km. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore. A traffic advisory said no unauthorised vehicle will be allowed beyond Nehru Park on June 25 and 26, during the Prime Minister`s visit. "In view of special deployment in Srinagar, particularly in green belt area on June 25 and 26, traffic police has issued detailed traffic arrangements in the city for safe passage of visiting dignitaries from Grand Palace up to Nishat along the banks of Dal Lake which will be strictly implemented," a police spokesman said. The diversions or restrictions will be implemented from 11 am on June 25 up to 11 am on the following day. "Vehicles bound for Nishat, Harwan, Shalimar and adjacent area shall be diverted towards Khanyar-Hazaratbal route at Badyari Chowk and no vehicle shall be allowed towards Grand Palace-SKICC," the spokesman said. PTI