High alert sounded in Jammu

Indian army officer Maj. Akash Singh's wife, right, weeps along with relatives as Singh?s body is carried into his home, in Jammu on September 9. Islamic rebels sneaked into Kashmir from Pakistan that day , sparking a gunbattle with border forces that left Singh and two suspected militants dead, the Indian army said. File photo: AP

Apprehending that some militants might have sneaked into the Indian side during the cross-border firing in Nikowal Pargwal area last night, Jammu and Kashmir police has sounded a high alert in the district.

All entry and exit points have been sealed, vehicles are being checked and people frisked. Security in the city and adjoining routes have been intensified to check for any suspected person, police said.

A major check point has been set up on the Jammu-Akhnoor road to check all passengers coming via buses, trucks and other two and three wheelers, they said.

Additional security has been also deployed at Jammu bus stand, railway station and other vital points.

The security has also been tightened in view of the Navratras, the nine days festivity of Goddess Durga, starting tomorrow.

Over 40,000 pilgrims pay visit at the holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi during Navratras and the state’s tourism department is organising a nine-day festival at Katra, the starting point for the yatra, from tomorrow.

All SHOs have been asked to start round-the-clock patrolling in the city and adjoining areas for incident free Navratras, a senior police official said.

Over 800 additional armed police jawans have been deployed at Katra and in and around the cave shrine, he said adding army and para-military forces have been deployed at Trikuta Hills, the abode of Mata Vaishnodevi.