The first batch of the annual Amarnath Yatra left for the pilgrimage from Jammu on Wednesday as the Yatra starts from Thursday. The first batch consists of 1,091 pilgrims.
“A total of 1,091 yatris (pilgrims) left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in an escorted convoy of 52 vehicles. This included 780 males, 190 females, one child and 120 Sadhus,” police said.
This year the Yatra will be conducted under the largest security cover as vehicles tagged with electromagnetic chips, bike and bullet-proof SUV police convoys and scores of bullet-proof bunkers have been deployed as a part the extensive security cover.
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had decided to directly monitor the security arrangements along the route. Sources in the MHA said, that while the government in the state has chalked out a foolproof strategy to ensure incident free and peaceful pilgrimage, the MHA has decided not to leave the entire responsibility of security on the Jammu and Kashmir Government.
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A posse of over 40,000 armed CRPF and state police personnel have virtually dotted the yatra routes from Jammu– via Pahalgam and Baltal– with their overwhelming presence in armoured vehicles.
Forces have deployed a huge assortment of CCTV cameras and drones, assisted by mounted Army columns, to ensure that the yatra route is secured.
“Each vehicle that has pilgrims and is part of the yatra is being tagged using RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and they will be monitored at a control room made operational here.
“Security forces have been given specific responsibility to sanitise routes and secure a select number of pilgrim vehicles by sandwiching them between bullet proof troop carriers,” a senior security official told PTI.
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With reports that there might be an attack on the Yatra, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo on Tuesday said that Amarnath Yatris were ‘guests and that the reports suggesting that militants were planning to attack them were baseless’.
“Amarnath Yatra is not our target. They come here to perform their religious rituals. They (yatris) are our guests,” said Riyaz Naikoo, Field Operational Commander, in an audio clip released on social media.
